Best Internship Ever
by fanwriter1245
Summary: When Raya begins working at the museum as an intern alongside Larry, she's certainly in for one heck of a surprise! The two night guards must work together to fix all of the problems thrown their way, including their own personal ones. Things get a bit complicated when Raya starts falling for one of the exhibits. Follows all three movies. AhkmenrahxOC
1. First Night

When Larry walked in to meet the old night guards of the Museum of Natural History, he did not expect to see a younger girl with them. By younger, she looked to be in her late teens. What surprised him most was that she was wearing the exact same uniform he was, the only exception being that it was tailored differently to fit her fine physique.

She walked over to him with a bright smile and held out her hand. "Hi! You must be Larry Daley. I'm Raya. I was told I would be working with a new employee."

Larry shook her hand and looked at the older men with a confused expression on his face. "Hey. I thought the museum was only hiring one night guard."

Raya let out a light laugh. "Technically they did. I'm an intern from NYU. I'll be working here for the next year when I'm on breaks. In return, these three wonderful men have convinced Dr. McPhee to give me six college credits."

"Well, now that you're all introduced, we'll let you get started," Cecil said to them. "Your keys. Your torches." He handed the both of them a set of keys and a flashlight. "You'll wanna strap those to your belts. It can get a little spooky around here at night, so you might wanna put a few lights on. All right, flashlight, keys. What am I for—Oh!" He reached into his bag and pulled out several old sheets of paper. "The instruction manual."

"Instructions," Gus clarified. "You start with one, two, three—"

"Four?" Larry finished for him.

"Are you cracking wise? I ought to punch you in the nose, hopscotch."

"Leave him alone, Gus," Reginald said to the man. "You got it covered, right, guys?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Larry answered.

"I think we can handle it," Raya smiled.

"You better get it!" Gus barked.

"Gus," Cecil gently berated. "Larry, Raya, do them in order, do them all, and do them quick. And the most important thing of all to remember: Don't let anything in or out."

"Out?" Larry asked. Raya's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked over at her new companion.

"Good luck, you two."

"Night, Gus! Night, Reginald!" Raya called.

"Young buck," Gus muttered on the way out. "Cracking wise."

"Moving on!" Cecil said.

Raya sighed. "Deep down, Gus is lovable. And the other two are sweethearts."

"If you say so," Larry said. As he began to walk over to the front desk, he asked Raya, "So, why on earth did you take an internship as a night guard?"

"I needed something to get my mom off my back and this is the only one that accepted me. Night guard was the only position they had available. It won't be too bad. I've always been a night owl anyway, and at least I'll be able to read or get some writing done while I'm working. Who knows? Maybe I'll even see some action in the five months total I work."

"Night owl, you say?"

"Oh yeah, at school, I usually don't go to bed until around 4:00 in the morning."

"Why would you do that?"

Raya laughed. "I like to write. And I find that the best time to get some writing done is when everyone else is asleep. It's the perfect time for inspiration to hit, and no one interrupts my thought process. What about you?"

"Well, I have one son, Nicky. He comes to stay with me every other weekend and on Wednesdays. He's at his mom's right now."

Raya nodded a little, putting together that Larry was divorced.

"I've kind of been going from job to job and moving around a lot, but I really want this one to work for Nicky's sake."

"Well, it's not like we're going to be seeing much action on this job. You're just lucky I'm here for now or you might've died from boredom."

Larry picked up the phone at the desk. "Hello?" he said into the receiver. His voice went across the entire museum as it apparently connected to the P.A. system. "Hello! Check! Check. I am Larry. Check! Larry! L-L-L-L-Larry!" He started beatboxing into the receiver.

Raya began laughing at his antics.

"Monday! Monday! Monday! Monster Truck Rally!"

He started singing a very poor and off-key rendition of _Eye of the Tiger_ in a falsetto voice that ended with him vocalizing and imitating an electric guitar. By now, Raya was laughing so hard, she was gripping her stomach as it began to ache.

Larry ended up falling asleep in the chair shortly after. Raya got on top of the counter and curled up where she too fell asleep.

She jolted awake when Larry attempted to roll over and fell out of the chair.

Raya rubbed her eyes and looked at him. "We are terrible night guards."

"It's not like we missed anything. I'm gonna head to the bathroom. Hold down the fort."

"Shouldn't be too hard."

Larry took off towards the mens' bathroom when Raya looked in front of her and realized something was missing.

"Larry?" she called. "You might wanna see this!"

Larry came back and looked at the pedestal in front of the room. No dinosaur skeleton. "Cecil?" he called. "Okay, very funny, Cecil! What is this, like a David Copperfield thing?"

He went up to the pedestal and waved his hand in the air to make sure nothing was there.

"I don't think Cecil did this," Raya said. "I mean how would someone of his age even accomplish that?"

"This is weird."

"Okay, I am really not that heavy of a sleeper. There's no way I slept through someone stealing a freaking dinosaur."

"Wait…do you hear that?"

Raya listened and could make out the quiet sound of water trickling.

"Cecil?" Larry called again.

The two of them followed the sound to the hallway and looked down it. Larry turned on his flashlight, and Raya's heart leapt in her chest. She let out a quiet breath as they looked at the dinosaur skeleton at the water fountain.

The skeleton was moving. How was it moving?!

Larry dropped his flashlight in surprise. The noise caught the dinosaur's attention and it looked over at the two night guards.

"Nice one," Raya hissed.

"Run!" Larry screamed.

They took off running down the hallway. The dinosaur skidded after them as they ran straight for the doors.

"Come on," Larry murmured as they tried to open the doors. "Revolve. Revolve!"

"It's not working!"

"This way!"

Larry and Raya ran back to the front desk and hid behind it. Larry grabbed the phone and dialed the operator.

The two of them screamed as the dinosaur began to knock against the desk.

"Cecil…" He paused as he tried to remember the man's last name. "Fredricks!" There was a pause and then, "Cecil! It's Larry Daley! The dinosaur—The dinosaur is alive! The dinosaur's alive! What do we do? Just tell me what to do!" He suddenly grabbed the instructions next to him. "Okay, I got them! Wait! Wait!"

They screamed again as the dinosaur lifted up the desk in its mouth and tossed it aside.

Larry looked at the instructions. "Number one: 'Throw the bone'. What bone?"

Suddenly, a bone fell right next to them.

"That bone?" Raya guessed.

The dinosaur leaned in close to them as Raya breathed heavily, fully able to see all its sharp teeth.

"I never wanted to be in Jurassic Park," she whispered.

Larry slowly picked up the bone and then threw it in the direction of the doors. The dinosaur quickly ran after it.

"Come on!" Larry said.

They quickly ran in the opposite direction, but the dinosaur ended up right in front of them with the bone in its mouth. It set the bone down on the ground and used its nose to toss it in their direction. It began to walk towards them again and reared its head up.

Then to Raya's utter surprise, it kneeled down and wagged its tail like a puppy. She looked at Larry in shock.

Larry looked down at the bone in front of him. "Fetch?" he whispered. "Play fetch?" He picked the bone up, and the dinosaur wagged its tail even faster in excitement.

Larry threw the bone again and the dinosaur took off after it. Raya managed to duck from its swinging tail, but Larry wasn't so lucky and got hit. He went flying and landed on the stairs before falling back down them.

They looked up and saw various animals and birds walking and flying around.

"No way," Larry whispered.

"This was not in the job description."


	2. Life-Threatening Job

They both ran off and came across the four Neanderthals from the exhibit now walking around trying to make fire. They quickened their step as the Neanderthals grunted at them forcefully.

"Hey!" a deep voice yelled making them both jump. They looked in front of them to find the large Easter Island head. "Dum-dums!"

"Yes?" Larry said.

"You give me gum-gum."

"I give you gum-gum?"

"You new dum-dums. You give me gum-gum."

"Gee. Okay. Um, you know what? I have no gum-gum. She doesn't either. Sorry. And my name isn't dum-dum, my name's Larry and this is Raya."

"No, your names dum-dum."

Larry and Raya turned at the sound of panicked shouts behind them.

"Oh, you in trouble, dum-dums. You'd better run-run from Attila the Hun-Hun!"

A group of men carrying various swords and axes appeared at the end of the hallway. The leader looked over at Larry and Raya and let out a battle cry.

"See you later, dum-dums!" the Easter Island head called as the two took off again.

The two night guards bolted down the hallway until they came to the elevator. Larry frantically pushed the button and the doors opened. He pushed Raya into the elevator and then pushed the buttons again to make the elevator close. The doors closed just as Attila made it. Raya thought they were safe until the doors suddenly started being forced open.

Attila's head went higher and higher in between the doors until it hit the ceiling and finally disappeared.

"What is happening?" Larry whispered.

"Either really impressive animatronics and extremely dedicated actors…or everything in the museum just came to life," Raya said as she tried to catch her breath.

The elevator stopped on the ground floor of the museum and the doors opened. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, the two of them ran to the nearest room and shut the doors behind them.

Raya looked over inside a glass case to find two men arguing and pointing in different directions as they looked at a map. There was a Native American woman with them who looked at the two humans curiously.

"Hey," Larry said to the woman. "How you doing?"

She looked at them as she put one hand to the glass.

Larry looked at the inscription below. "Are you…you're…'Sak—Sakagawa—waya'? You're 'Sakagawaya'?"

Raya laughed. "It's Sakagawea."

"Oh! Sakagawea! You're Sakagawea?"

The woman looked at the both of them and pointed to her ears as she shook her head.

"You can't…you can't hear us? Excuse me." He looked back at the description. "'Who assisted the Lewis and Clark'—Right, so that's Lewis and Clark and you're…Right. You seem…I'm Larry. This is Raya. What's going on? What's…?" He raised his voice a few decibels. "Do you know what's going on here?"

"Larry, I don't think yelling is helping anything."

Shouting was heard from outside the room they were in.

Larry quickly looked back up at the woman. "Huns. We gotta—"

When Larry took a couple steps back, he tripped over a raised platform and took Raya down with him.

Raya was about to yell at him when she saw a mannequin with no face put a finger to the place where lips would've been. An old Civil War gun stretched across Larry's face.

Raya flinched as a gunshot rang out. These mannequins had working guns! More mannequins appeared in Civil War dress and began shooting and battling each other in the most accurate Civil War reenactment ever performed.

One of the mannequins clutched onto Raya and seemed to be silently begging for help, but the sight of something with no face latched onto her really freaked her out. She squirmed out of its grasp and followed Larry out the room and down another hallway.

Larry paused and looked at the instructions again. "'Number two: Lock up the lions or they'll eat you'."

"I'm sorry, what?" Raya said. "There's a chance we might get eaten on this job?"

Larry ran after one of the walking statues. "Hey. Hi. Tin Man. Hey. Hi. How you doing? We're new here, and it says we're supposed to lock up the lions or they'll eat us."

The statue began speaking to them in Italian so neither of them understood a word he said.

Larry started to run off in the direction the statue pointed. "You're Galileo? No?"

The statue shook his head as the two new night guards ran off down to the Hall of African Mammals.

There were live zebras and elephants complete with a lion and a few lionesses. Larry tried to go back, but a mammoth blocked his way. He frantically closed the gates and locked them up.

"Hey," he said cautiously to the approaching mammals. "We're the new guys and we're just locking up, so if it's cool with you, I'm just gonna get my paperwork…and be out of your hair, okay?"

He surveyed his getaway before quickly grabbing the instructions from beneath the elephant.

He and Raya hid in the brush from the lions. The two of them ended up coming right up to a huge boa constrictor.

"Oh, no," Raya said. "Not a snake person."

They continued on and Larry felt a monkey hop across his back. Then they ran out of the brush to find the lions chasing after them.

Larry closed the gate just as the lion pounced. It roared fiercely at them through the closed gate. Larry went to lock it, but the keys on his belt were gone.

The lion quickly grew bored with its out-of-reach prey and returned to its pedestal.

"Well," Raya gasped. "He's no Aslan."

"Raya, grab the instructions. Read number three."

Raya picked up the instructions off the floor. "'Double-check your belt. The monkey probably stole your keys'."

They looked up to find a small monkey holding up Larry's keys. "Hey," Larry said sweetly. "Hey there. Hi. What's your name? Your name is—No, no, no. Come back. Come back. Dewey? Is that your name, Dewey? No, no, no. What's…? Dewey? Dexter? Dexter. Dexter, right? Hey, Dexter, you wanna give me those keys? I just want to lock up." Dexter slowly began to climb down. "Yes. Oh, good. Come to Papa. Oh, thank you. Can I have those keys? Oh, good. What a good boy. That's okay. Oh, thank you." Dexter taunted him with the keys for a second, pulling them back through the bars several times. "Oh, no, no, no. It's okay. Thank you very, very much."

Raya put her hand to her mouth as Dexter bit Larry hard on the nose and refused to let go. Finally, he sprung back and fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Raya asked, trying not to laugh.

Larry stood back up to the gate. When he felt something hitting his shoulder, he looked up to find the little monkey peeing on him. "Ew!" he exclaimed as Raya started laughing again. "Oh! Yuck! Bad monkey! Stop that! Ew! That's not right! Are you done, huh? Do you have an issue with me, huh? Do you have an issue with me? Because if I have a problem with somebody, I don't pee on them, okay? All right? And also…Let me tell you something. These keys?"

Dexter came flying down and snatched the instructions from Larry's hands.

"Hey! Dexter, that's not funny. Give it back. Dexter. Give—" He looked at the monkey and saw his hands gripping the paper. "Don't. I know what you're thinking. Don't do it. Not a good idea. Mm-mm. Not—Dexter, we need those." He looked over at the two monkeys cheering for him. "Don't encourage him. You think you're funny for your friends, huh? You three guys—What, he's the ringleader, and you're the little audience? Yeah, no. Don't do it, okay? Look it! Look!"

Dexter ripped the pages clean in half and then began ripping the new halves over and over again.

"You!"

"Okay, no longer funny," Raya said as she finally stopped laughing. "We're in trouble."

Larry went to go open the gates to retrieve the papers, but the lions quickly prepared for that.

Larry screamed in frustration. "Oh, this is not happening."

He and Raya went deeper into the museum and sat on one of the wooden benches in the diorama room.

"Worst internship ever," Raya muttered as she leaned her head back.


	3. The Night's Finally Over

Larry checked his watch, seeing how much longer he had to endure this, when he felt a sudden pain in his cheek. He reached up and pulled out a small little dart. He looked over to find people the size of his pinky coming towards him.

One of them blew another dart that hit him in the mouth, leaving behind a red welt. "What are you guys doing?" he asked. He smacked his lips together after pulling the dart out. "I can't feel my lip."

Raya looked at the miniatures and saw them all preparing their blow darts. "Oh, crap."

They all blew out their darts, hitting the both of the adults and sending sharp pains through wherever the dart broke the skin.

The two of them sprang up from the bench and pulled all the darts out of their hands and arms.

When they heard singing, they looked over at the Western diorama. Both of them walked over to get a closer look when they felt movement on their ankles.

Western miniatures had tied their feet together. Larry crashed down onto the diorama while Raya fell down to the floor for the umpteenth time that night.

"Yee-haw! Hog-tie him, boys!" one of the cowboys commanded. "Get him, that big old Bocephus of a man! Don't forget the lady!"

Various miniatures tied ropes around Larry in the diorama and others tied up Raya on the ground.

"Cinch 'em up good. You ain't so big now, are you?"

"Every night, year after year, one of you guards locks us up in these boxes," another man said. "Well, I hereby say, sir, enough!"

"Fire up the iron horse, boys," the cowboy said.

Raya heard a quiet train whistle come from the diorama.

"Hey, blondie?" Larry said to the cowboy.

"Name's Jedediah."

"All right, Jedediah. Stop the train, please."

"That's a big no-can-do, Cracker Jack."

"What's going on here, huh?"

"Somebody's gotta pay."

"Pay for what?"

"I don't know! Just pay! Now, stop whinin' and just take it like a man!"

"Seriously, stop the train."

"All right. Stop the train!"

"Thank you."

"Now full speed ahead and ram him! Split his head like a watermelon!"

Larry groaned as the train hit him right in the nose.

"For cryin' out loud!"

"All right, that's enough."

Larry angrily flung the ropes off his chest and sat up again. He flicked one of the stray miniatures off his shoulder.

"Little help?" Raya said from the ground.

Larry helped her break free of her ropes as well and when they looked around, they were surrounded by Roman soldier miniatures.

"Prepare the catapults," one of them said.

"Whoa, Octavius, hold on!" Jedediah said. "This ain't your fight. These here giants are on our land!"

"Hey, little guy," Larry said to the cowboy. "Jed? Yeah. Sorry, look. I just—we're not giants. We're just average-sized—"

"Don't talk down to me!"

"We're not giants, guys. All right? You guys are really little."

"We may be small, but our hearts are large, metaphorically speaking," Octavius told them.

"Don't take that the wrong way. I'm just saying you're miniatures."

"Silence! The Roman Empire knows no boundaries."

"Don't you do it, son," Jedediah said to Octavius.

"Do what?" Larry asked.

"Octavius."

"Don't do what?"

"Unleash hell!" Octavius ordered.

Fireballs and flaming arrows were launched at the night guards, threatening to singe their skin and the fabric on their uniforms. Larry and Raya quickly backed away from the flaming weapons.

"Climb aboard, ma'am." Raya looked up to find the wax figure of Teddy Roosevelt on top of his horse. "Take the hand, my dear."

Raya grabbed his hand and he hefted her up behind him.

"Coming, son?" he smiled to Larry.

Roosevelt took off on the horse leaving Larry to run after them. They stopped in front of the main desk on the ground floor.

Raya dismounted as Larry finally caught up with them and tried to catch his breath from the sprint.

"Thank you," Raya said to the wax figure.

"Not at all. Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of these United States of America, at your service."

"I'm Raya Daniels, an intern. And this is Larry Daley, the new night guard."

Teddy laughed as he too dismounted from the horse. "Pleasure to meet you, Raya Daniels and Lawrence Daley. You'll have to excuse me though." He took a gun off the horse. "The hunt is afoot."

"Hunt's afoot," Larry muttered. He and Raya quickly followed after Roosevelt. "Excuse me, Mr. President. Could I ask you something?"

"Yes, but just one question."

"All right. Okay, why? Is it just some, like, three-wishes kind of deal?"

"Not at all. Self-reliance is the key to a vigorous life. A man must look inward to find his own answers. How can I be of help?"

"I don't really know how to put this, and please don't take it the wrong way, but isn't everything in this museum supposed to be, you know…"

"Dead?" all three of them finished at the same time.

"Follow me," Teddy told them.

He led them to the Egyptian wing of the museum, and they entered a 'tomb' guarded by giant jackals. Raya grimaced when she heard awful screaming coming from the coffin as the sarcophagus inside made small jerks.

"Yell all you want, pharaoh!" Teddy said. "You've been in there 54 years! You're not getting out tonight!"

"Why doesn't anyone let him out?" Raya asked.

"It could be dangerous to let an actual person rather than an imitation of a person out and about. And pharaohs aren't exactly remembered for their generous personality."

"But he sounds so…in pain."

"It's a risk we can't afford to take, I'm afraid." He pointed at the golden tablet above the coffin. "There's the source of all this commotion. The Tablet of Ahkmenrah. Arrived here in 1952 from the Nile expedition. On that night, everything in this museum came to life. And every night since."

"So everything in the museum comes to life every night?" Larry asked.

"Exactly."

"And we're supposed to do what?"

"You're the night watchman, Lawrence. And…watchwoman. A venerable position in this institution."

He suddenly screamed at them, making them both jump and cry out in surprise.

Teddy started laughing. "Come on."

"All right. Okay. This is impossible," Larry said as they all left the tomb.

"Nothing's impossible. If it can be dreamed, it can be done. Hence the 20-foot jackal staring at you. Don't make eye contact. Your jobs are to make sure that everyone stays inside the museum because if the sun rises and anyone's on the outside, we turn to dust."

"You turn to dust?"

"Dust."

"Really?"

"Really. Now, it's almost dawn. I shall help you both restore order tonight. But mark my words, it's the last time I shall ever do so. Is that clear?"

"Yeah. I mean…I mean, I guess. I don't…Um…"

"Stop babbling, boy!" Teddy yelled, making Larry and Raya jump again. "Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's ride."

With Teddy's help, Larry and Raya managed to secure all the exhibits in their proper places. Raya wondered how three old men had possibly been able to do this job before they started. It was exhausting and their very lives were at stake with almost every exhibit they had to lock up. How was she supposed to do this for the next year?

"All right. So the Hall of Reptiles is secure," Larry told Teddy as he and Raya approached him. He was looking at something through his binoculars…in Sakagawea's direction. "What are you looking at?"

"I'm, uh, tracking, dear boy," Teddy laughed nervously. "A man's got to track." They all began heading back to the lobby so Teddy could return to his exhibit. "Welcome to the family, my friends. See you both tomorrow night."

"Well—Oh, actually, I gotta be honest. I don't think I'm coming back."

"What? You've only just begun."

"Yeah, well, this is not exactly what I—"

"Lawrence?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you do before you took this post?"

"Uh, well, I've done a lot of different things. I, um, I invented this thing called the Snapper."

"The Snapper?" Raya asked with a smirk.

"Did you give up on that as well?" Teddy asked.

"No, I didn't," Larry answered. "No, I just hit a few roadblocks. You might have heard of The Clapper."

"Lawrence."

"Yes, sir?"

"Some men are born great. Others have greatness thrust upon them. For you, this is that very moment. The same goes for you, Raya. Make this moment count for all that it's worth."

They watched as Teddy and his horse got back up on the pedestal. Teddy took out his sword and resumed his museum pose.

Larry and Raya stepped a bit closer, waiting for him to turn to wax again.

Suddenly, Teddy screamed at them again making Larry and Raya scream themselves.

Teddy started laughing again. "Bully! Got you!"

"Yeah. You got us," Larry said dryly.

"You know, that's going to get really old really fast," Raya added.

The two of them began to walk away when a small shout was heard. Raya looked over to find Jedediah peeking out of Larry's breastpocket.

"Say hello to your little friend!" he shouted.

Larry picked up him by the coat and held him between his thumb and index finger. "What are you doing?"

"Put me down! I don't like to be manhandled!"

"Just calm down, Jed."

"It doesn't feel good. It makes me feel small and powerless."

"You done?"

"I'm gonna shoot you in your dang eye. In your dadgum eye." He took out his gun and shot at Larry, but nothing happened.

"Yeah, keep shooting. Nothing's gonna happen."

"Now you know my shame. Jedediah's impotent rage. His guns don't fire. Take me away."

Larry and Raya started walking back to the diorama room to return Jedediah.

"This ain't over!" Jedediah yelled. "You ain't seen the last of me!"

"Yeah, I don't wanna hear it, okay?"

"Incoming!" Raya yelled.

Raya and Larry ducked as the dinosaur came barreling into the room and returned to its own pedestal.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Jedediah said.

"This is not worth $11.50 an hour," Larry muttered.

"Hey, at least you're getting paid," Raya told him. "I'm only getting college credit."

"Look, the giants are scared. There's a bigger giant runnin' around!"

"Jed, you're giving me a headache. Please stop talking."

"You can't tell me what to do, Gigantess!"

"Gigantess? Really?"

"What else am I supposed to call you?"

"Raya works."

"Nah."

Raya rolled her eyes as they returned Jedediah to his proper place.

Everything else in the museum returned to their proper positions and turned back into their still daytime forms.

Larry and Raya went to the locker room and changed out of their uniforms and back into their regular clothes, finally finished with the longest night of their lives.


	4. Larry Quits

Cecil, Gus, and Reginald entered through the doors and Raya went over to greet them. "Morning, gentlemen."

"Good morning, Raya," Cecil said with a smile. "Where's Larry?"

"Oh, he's around here somewhere."

"Larry?" he called out. "Larry?"

Larry jumped out from behind the corner with a shout and surprised the three older men.

"There he is," Raya said.

"Oh, don't do that!" Cecil said as he put his hand to his chest. "We're too old for surprises!"

"Really?" Larry said sarcastically. "I thought you liked surprises. Like how you surprised us with the fact that everything in the museum comes to life at night! That little…sweetheart."

"Larry, we wanted to tell you guys. Neither of you ever would have believed us."

"He's not wrong," Raya put in.

Larry pointed his finger at the older men. "Do you have any idea what we've been through tonight?"

"What?" Gus asked.

"I said, 'Do you have any idea what we've been through tonight', Gus!" he yelled to the point where all his words strung together.

"Keep a lid on it, butterscotch!"

Raya quietly giggled to herself. It was kind of funny to see what names Gus called Larry.

"I don't know if what happened last night was real, but I didn't sign up for this. I just need a regular job that is not life-threatening and pays my bills. So thank you very much and, uh, I left my uniform in the office, and I will be seeing you."

Larry took off down the hall.

"Larry!" Gus called after him.

Larry held up his hand as he continued to march down the hallway.

Raya looked at the older gentlemen. "Look, last night was the most stressful night of my life, and that's saying something because I once had to write a 14-page paper before 8:00 AM. But…I want to stay."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Raya," Cecil said to her. "But as an intern, you need to be with one of the museum staff members at all times, and if Larry isn't working here anymore, then I'm afraid we'll have to cancel your internship."

Raya sighed heavily in defeat. She could just hear her mother's complaints now about how her internship failed after only one night and how it was probably all her fault.

Cecil went a bit closer to her with a knowing look on his face. "Why don't you go talk to him?"

Raya followed Larry's path out of the museum and walked down the steps. "Larry!" she called. She stopped when she saw he was talking to two other people. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were in the middle of a conversation."

"It's okay," Larry said. "Nicky, this is Raya. She's an intern at the museum. Raya, this is my son, Nicky, and this is Don."

"It's nice to meet you both," she said as she shook their hands.

"Hey, Niko, you wanna take a little look-a-doo inside?" Don asked Nicky. "Maybe your dad will give you a VIP tour."

"You know what? We're pretty slammed this morning," Larry told him. "Yeah, but Nicky, I promise, I'll show you around soon, okay? Deal?"

"Deal," Nicky smiled as he hugged his father.

"All right."

"Bye, Dad."

"Bye."

"Love you."

"Love you too, buddy."

Raya looked over at Larry. "Look, Larry, I could give you a whole lecture about how this job is good for you, and you wanted it to work out, and it pays well, and all that crap, but really…I really need this internship, and…I can't do it unless you work here as well."

"Okay, I'll give it one more night."

"Wait, what? Just like that?"

Larry shrugged. "I gave the lecture to myself."

Raya smiled, and they both headed back into the building. The three older gentlemen were still standing by the entrance. Reginald turned when he saw them approaching.

"Hey, Larry," he said as the others turned around.

"So I was thinking maybe I'll give it one more night," Larry confessed.

"I'm glad you came around," Cecil smiled. "Welcome back."

"You. New night guards, here, now."

Larry and Raya looked over to find Dr. McPhee standing a few feet away from them in a professional position, looking a bit ticked off. They slowly went over to the man after giving an awkward look to the other night guards.

"What's up?" Larry asked.

"'What's up?' Oh, well, take a walk with me and I'll show you, Mr. 'What's Up?' Come on."

Larry and Raya shared a confused look for a moment before following Dr. McPhee to the diorama room.

"So would either of you kindly do me the favor of explaining this?" Dr. McPhee asked.

Raya smiled as she looked down and saw Jedediah smiling at Octavius stuck in the stockades.

"Okay," Larry said calmly. "Uh, I'm guessing—and I'm just spitballing here—but, uh, looks like that Roman dude got a little cocky and climbed over into the Wild West. And the cowboy knows the Roman dude wants to take over his territory, so he rounded up a posse and put him in the stockade."

Dr. McPhee laughed sarcastically. "Let's all laugh at me, the comedy night guard. 'No' is the answer. Sarcasm back at you, with your humor box. I wasn't laughing. I was pretending to laugh if that's what you want, some sort of battle of humor. Do you?"

Larry paused for a second, wondering how exactly he was supposed to respond. "No," he finally said. "I don't want—No, I don't want a battle of humor."

"No, you don't, because it would be a bloodbath. Nothing funny about Little Bighorn. No. I find it about as funny as a 'fancist'. It's not funny. Okay? And I will not stand for this type of blatant…If I'm not clear, tell me."

 _You're not clear_ , Raya thought. She kept it to herself.

"Am I clear?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah?" He angrily walked off to go sort out other portions of the museum.

Raya looked over at Larry. "Does he not know?"

"I guess not."

"Well, you'd think that the director of the museum would know that everything in the freaking place comes to life at night."

"Guess it's a night guard secret."

The two of them ran to go catch Cecil before he left.

"Hey, Cecil?" Larry called just as he was headed out the door. "You got an extra copy of that, uh, instruction manual?"

"Oh, no, I'm afraid not, Larry," Cecil replied. "Listen, I'll tell you both what you do. Read some books. Brush up on your history. Helped me a lot when I first started out."

"This museum was originally dedicated to that man on the horse up there—President Theodore Roosevelt."

Larry and Raya looked over to find Rebecca giving a tour to a group of school children on a field trip.

"He absolutely loved history and believed that the more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future."

One look between the night guards confirmed what they were both thinking. It would be beneficial to listen to what Rebecca had to say. If they knew more about the history of the things in the museum, then they would both be better equipped to handle them all when they came to life.

They followed Rebecca into the African Mammals room.

"Okay, kids. Who can tell me what this room's called?"

The kids all shouted out their guesses.

"Very good. The Hall of African Mammals. Right here we have the king of the jungle, the lion. Up ahead is one of my favorite creatures in the whole museum, the capuchin monkey. A highly intelligent primate known for its loving and generous nature."

Larry let out a small laugh at Rebecca's statement, having previously been the recipient of Dexter's troublemaking last night.

"Excuse me?" Rebecca said as she and all of the kids looked at Larry.

Raya looked over at Larry with a small smirk.

"I-I-I just thought that was…I-I just was laughing in agreement. Happy monkey."

Rebecca looked at him for a second before smiling back to the children. "All right, kids. This way."

Larry waited for Rebecca and the children to be out of sight before quickly going up to Dexter.

"Let me tell you something," he whispered. "I'm not buying it. You might have them fooled, you might have the kids fooled. Not me. Can't get past me. There's a storm coming, buddy. There's a storm coming."

Raya went up to him and tugged on his arm. "You don't even know if he can hear you," she said with a laugh.

The two of them hurried past some more exhibits and caught back up with Rebecca.

"One of the most famous trackers in history, Sakagawea, was the woman who led Lewis and Clark on their expedition to find the Pacific Ocean," Rebecca explained. "Now you guys have probably heard the saying, 'Actions speak louder than words'. And yet they wrote—" She stopped speaking when she saw Larry raise his hand. "Yes, Mr. Daley?"

"Yes. Was she deaf?" Larry asked.

Raya looked down as she smiled a little. She may not have been a history fan, but even she knew that Sakagawea hadn't been deaf.

"Was she deaf?" Rebecca reiterated. "Uh, no. She was not. But she—"

"Yeah, because, just, she does seem a little bit, sort of…unresponsive."

"That's because she's a statue." She looked at all the kids in front of her. "Kids, could you give me one sec? Go check her out. She's really cool." She briskly walked over to the two night guards. "What are you doing?"

"Well, we're gonna be here every night," Larry answered. "And we just wanted to learn a little bit more about what we're guarding. Actually, I've got a bunch of questions. Maybe, I don't know, when you have a break, could I buy you a cup of coffee or something?"

"A cup of coffee?"

"Yeah, I mean, just purely a, you know, colleague-to-colleague, information-download sort of coffee."

Rebecca looked at her watch. "I finish in 20 minutes. I'll meet you outside."

"Thank you…so much."

"You're welcome."

"And have a good rest of your…"

"All right. Okay, kids!"

Raya looked over at Larry again. "Okay, so while you continue to flirt with that woman, I'm gonna go home and get some rest, try to do some research. I'll see you back here tonight."

"Later, Raya."

Raya returned back to her dorm room where she was staying over break. It was rather quiet in the building since a good majority of the students had gone home. It was just the way she liked it.

She crawled into bed and crashed for several hours, exhausted from the several times she had nearly died last night.


	5. Second Night

After a nice long rest, Raya went on her computer and began to research a little about the exhibits she could remember. She couldn't hit all of them because she hadn't come in contact with everything since the museum had four floors, but she managed to get quite a lot in.

She checked the time and saw that it was nearly time for her to be back at the museum. She downed a large cup of coffee and packed her bag before calling a cab and heading to her job.

Raya went into the locker room and saw Larry already dressed and ready.

"Ready for Night Two?" Larry asked her.

"It can't be any worse than last night."

Raya changed into her uniform and was just putting her things in her locker when the three gentlemen stepped into the room.

"Larry? Raya?" Cecil called. "Just wanted to say good luck."

"And goodbye," Reginald added. "We're clocking out for the last time."

"If either of you are ever in Boca, look us up."

"Whoa. Wait, you guys are going out of town?" Larry asked. "What if this doesn't work out?"

Raya gave him an encouraging smile. "It'll work out."

"She's right," Reginald said. "Smart fellow like you? You'll be fine."

"Yeah, we'll just be a phone call away," Cecil told him. "Come on, walk us out."

Everyone started heading to the door, but Reginald hung back. "Uh, uh, you fellas go ahead. I, uh…I-I-I need a moment." He put his hands over his eyes and leaned against the lockers.

"He's very emotional. A lot of, uh, memories in this room."

Raya smiled pitifully. "Night, Reginald."

Everyone left, not noticing the man reach into the night guards' lockers and pull out a house key and a college ID card.

Larry and Raya said their good-byes to the retired night guards and proceeded to prepare for what was ahead.

"Okay, so what have you got stashed away in that bag?" Raya asked Larry.

"Everything we should need to not die."

"Good enough for me."

Larry went over to the dinosaur, now dubbed Rexy, and grabbed the bone that was used to play fetch. Then he attached the bone to a remote-control car.

Rexy soon started to move, so Larry started driving the car around the museum floor. It took no time at all for Rexy to start chasing after it.

"Duck!" Raya called.

The two of them quickly ducked before they could get decapitated by Rexy's tail.

"Go crazy, big guy," Larry said as he put a rubber band around the remote.

"That is genius," Raya remarked.

"Thank you."

Now it was time to start locking everything up. They first passed by the Neanderthal exhibit.

Larry took out a lighter. "Hey, guys. Quest for fire? Over. Knock yourselves out."

He tossed them the lighter and they all began marveling at the new contraption. He then slid in front of the Easter Island head.

"Morning, dum-dum."

"Me no dum-dum. You dum-dums," the head's voice boomed. "You bring me gum-gum?"

"Yes, I did, fathead. Lots and lots of gum-gum."

Larry took out a huge wad of gum out from his bag and tossed it to the Easter Island head.

"That's disgusting," Raya told him. "How long did it take you to make that?"

Larry laughed lightly. "A while. Come on."

Their next stop was in the diorama room. Larry pulled out a glove that people used to punch when practicing self-defense to protect himself from the darts.

"I got the Mayans. Can you lock up the other ones?"

"Sure thing."

Raya went over and locked up the exhibit next to the Mayan one. Then she headed over to the Roman and Wild West dioramas.

"What's that? I can't hear you through the glass," Larry said to the now locked up Mayans. "Sorry."

"Larry, you should see this," Raya called.

Larry came over to her and looked inside the Roman diorama. Several Romans had a battering ram and were ramming it into the wall.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" Larry asked the Roman general.

"We expand or we die," Octavius answered. He turned back to his men. "Heave! Heave!"

Their heads turned when they heard Jedediah shouting, "On the count of three, you blow this anthill to kingdom come!"

The cowboys whooped as the two night guards walked over.

"And a-one and a-two—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, hey, Jed! Stop that!" Larry ordered. "All right? Don't do that. You blow a hole in your mountain, all you're gonna hit is a wall."

"Step aside, Gigantor and Gigantess! We got us a railroad to build. We're blowin' a hole in that thing!"

"Okay, first of all, enough with the Gigantor Gigantess giant stuff, okay? We're just trying to close up shop."

"We're gonna blow it anyway. And a-three!"

The cowboys pushed the lever on the dynamite and a miniscule explosion happened that had no impact on the exhibit whatsoever.

"Yeah, poof. Wow. What are you doing?"

"What's it look like we're doin'? It's manifest destiny. You can't fight it and neither can I. Go! More dynamite! Yeah, use it all! Whoo!"

"Ugh, that gives me flashbacks to learning about all that stuff in middle school," Raya mumbled.

"All right. Okay." Larry and Raya walked back over to the Roman diorama. "Listen, 'Octavus'? You gotta stop that."

"It's 'Octavius', Mary."

"Okay, you know what? Fine. Great." Larry looked at Raya. "You get Octavius."

"Yep."

"I got Jed."

Raya reached into the diorama and gently plucked Octavius right out of it.

"You cannot do this! I am a Roman general! I have rights!"

"Oh, pipe down!"

Raya placed Octavius on the top of the bench while Larry placed Jed next to him as the two continued to shout their protests.

"I told you, I don't like to be manhandled!" Jedediah yelled.

"No, I will manhandle you, Jedediah!" Larry said firmly. "Now, listen, guys. What is your problem, huh? Why can't you just get along?"

"Look, we're men. We fight, okay? That's what we do."

"It's kind of how we pass the time," Octavius told them.

"You're both, like, giants. Freaks, if you will. We can't expect either of you to understand that."

"You got the whole room to run around in," Larry said to them. "You don't have to be near each other."

"What, you mean…?" Octavius started.

"You're gonna let us out?" Jedediah finished. "What, and just…just roam free?"

"Yeah," Larry answered. "Yeah, I might, if you promise to behave. That means no fireballs, no explosions, okay?"

"You have my word, my liege," Octavius said as he placed his fist on his heart and bowed slightly.

"Yeah, no problemo, Gigantor."

"Um, our names are Larry and Raya, first of all, okay, Jed? So we call you Jed. We don't call you Tiny, right?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hey, Teeny. How does that sound?"

"I-I don't like it. It hurts my feelings."

"Okay, well, 'Gigantor' and 'Gigantess' makes us feel like some sort of freak, so, um, you know…"

"I don't—I just call you Larry and Raya," Octavius said to the adults.

"Don't be a kiss-up, okay? Now, look, we're trusting you guys, all right? If you don't do what we say, you're gonna end up like your little buddies in the Mayan world over there. Locked up. Take a look. Do they look happy?"

"No," Octavius answered.

"They look sad," Jedediah added.

Raya smiled a little to herself. These two miniatures were acting like two kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar and it was kind of adorable.

"Because they can't do what they wanna do," Larry told them. "Now, we're letting you guys have a little bit of leash here. Don't choke us with it, okay? Now we gotta run. You guys play nice, okay? Okay. Good. Thanks."

The two night guards set off to finish their tasks.

Raya looked over at Larry. "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

Larry nodded his head. "No."

The two of them then headed over to the Hall of African Mammals, passing the Easter Island head on the way.

"Hey, how's that gum treating you, dum-dum?" Larry asked.

The head growled happily in response.

"Good." Larry started to lock up the gate when they heard chittering behind them. "Oh, hey, Dexter. We're just locking up. You want in?" Dexter quickly climbed up Larry's back to get up on the tree in the exhibit. "Yeah? Whoa! All right." Dexter looked at the two of them playfully and Larry looked at his empty keychain. "Oh. What's that? You got my keys?" Dexter held up the keys he had swiped off the night guard and Raya smiled when she realized they were the kind of keys babies play with. "I don't think so." Larry held up his own keys and slammed the gate shut. "Looks like Uncle Larry pulled a fast one on little Dexy. Those are baby keys for a little baby. So have fun playing with your baby keys, little baby monkey. Maybe tomorrow night, I'll bring you a little baby 'diapie' so you can go poo-poo in it then I'll change it for you. Then I'll give you a little tickle because you're a cute little baby. Will you cry all night long about how Uncle Larry fooled you, huh? Told you there was a storm coming."

Raya shook her head and laughed as they left the exhibit. "You're crazy. That was cruel."

They headed into the room Sakagawea was in and found Teddy looking through his binoculars again.

"Hey, Teddy," Larry called.

Teddy jumped a bit before stepping down from his perch. "Lawrence! Raya! You impertinent pups! I knew you'd both come back. You look like a man and a woman on a mission."

"Yeah, we're gonna give it another shot."

Larry and Raya looked to where Teddy was staring and figured he was looking at Sakagawea again.

"You, uh…?"

"What?" Teddy asked innocently.

"You checking her out?"

Teddy scoffed. "The nerve. 'Checking her out.' I've never heard of such a thing."

"Mm-hmm," Raya muttered sarcastically.

"No, no, no. I'm just…I mean, because, you know, she's very beautiful," Larry told him.

"Beautiful?"

"Yeah."

Teddy looked through his binoculars again. "Well, a handsome woman, I suppose."

Raya smiled. She had never seen someone so awkward when talking about a girl he admired. With the exception of her cousin, but he was thirteen, so it didn't count.

"Yeah. Maybe you should go, uh, go talk to her," Larry suggested.

"Indeed. Bless you, lad. Carry on!"

"Yeah. All right. Good."

Raya looked over at Larry as they walked off. "That's so ironic that he has the hots for Sakagawea."

"How come?"

"Well, the real Teddy Roosevelt wasn't exactly a spokesman for Native Americans. At all." Larry looked at her with a surprised expression on his face. "Hey, I did my share of research too."

"Can you go lock up the exhibits on the third floor while I take care of some other ones here?"

"Sure!"

Raya headed up to the third floor and locked up all of the exhibits that needed locking up. She ended up passing by Ahkmenrah's tomb and could hear his pained yelling again all the way from down the hall. She looked inside as the sarcophagus shook and the prisoner trapped inside tried to free himself.

"Raya."

Raya turned to find Larry approaching her. She sighed heavily. "I understand why Teddy said we can't let him out. I just…hate to hear him scream like that. Can you imagine being trapped inside that small case?"

"Look, you and I are still new at this. If Teddy's right, the last thing we need is an evil pharaoh running around the place. Maybe once we get our bearings straight and know what we're doing, we'll let him out. But until then, it's better this way."

Raya nodded a little, still looking at the shaking sarcophagus, wondering what the pharaoh inside was like. She had tried to do some research on him earlier, but there was next to nothing about him on the Internet, and what she did find didn't tell her anything about the kind of person he was when he was alive.


	6. Things Fall Apart

The two of them left and headed back downstairs where they found the Huns all gathered at the main desk.

"Hey, hi," Larry called to them. They all started shouting and ran over to the two night guards. "No! It's okay! It's okay. You guys speak English? No?"

Attila said something angrily to him in his native language.

"Right. Okay, I don't know what that means, and I know that we all got off on the wrong foot last night, but…a little birdie told me that somebody likes…magic."

"Magic?" Attila asked.

"Magic. Sorcery."

"Ah, 'sorsor'."

"Yes, illusion. Everybody likes magic." The Huns gasped as Larry pulled flowers out of thin air. "And flowers. People like flowers." He handed the bouquet to one of the soldiers. "There you go. Those are for you. You know what else people like? Money." Larry pulled out a silver dollar as Attila watched with fascination. "The almighty dollar, right? But money can sometimes…disappear." He pretended to make the coin disappear from his hand, but Raya knew it was just in his other hand. "At least that's what I…hear." He seemingly pulled the coin out of Attila's ear. "No wonder you can't understand me. You got a coin in your ear."

Attila smiled at them, saying something approving in his native tongue. Raya breathed a small sigh of relief, happy they were getting on his good side.

"Oh, check this out. Anybody need a hanky?" Larry pulled out a multicolored piece of fabric. "Well, I wouldn't suggest this little feller because he has a nasty habit of…vanishing." Larry stuffed the fabric into his fist, but when he showed his hands again, the fabric was still sticking out of the fake thumb magicians used to stuff the fabric in.

"Oh, no…" Raya said under her breath.

"Into thin air."

"Larry…"

Attila noticed the fabric sticking out and angrily grabbed his hand.

"Ah, no, no," Larry said quickly. "Don't. That defeats the—Don't—Don't—Ah!"

When Larry realized that Attila saw the whole thing was fake, he pushed Raya in another direction and they both attempted to make a run for it. Unfortunately, the soldiers caught both of them. Eight soldiers all grabbed one limb. Attila said something to them before clearly ordering his soldiers to start pulling.

"Not the limbs," Larry begged. "Guys! Please do not tear the limbs."

"Larry, if I die right now, I am going to kill you!" Raya yelled. "You couldn't tell the fabric wasn't in all the way?!"

The loud sound of an elephant trumpeting seemed to frighten the Huns as they all dropped Larry and Raya and ran off. They both looked up to find all of the animals from the African Mammals room stampeding down the steps.

"Didn't we lock that room?" Raya said.

The two of them got up and quickly made their way down the halls to get to the exhibit. On the way, they again passed the statue of the explorer who only spoke Italian.

"Cortés, right?" Larry guessed.

The statue shook his head again as Larry and Raya hurried on and were faced with an empty Hall of African Mammals exhibit.

The two night guards spun around when they heard Dexter chittering. Larry pulled out his keychain and found no keys attached to it. "How?" he whispered.

"Relax," Raya said. "We've still got mine." She looked at her keychain and found her keys gone too. "What?!"

They both looked back at Dexter to find him holding two sets of keys.

"You—Don't even think about it. Don't you—"

Dexter stuck his tongue out at them and took off running.

"Dexter!"

Larry and Raya took off running after him, Larry slipping and falling to the floor on the way. As they followed him to the diorama room, they were met with hundreds of miniatures battling each other on the floor and on the bench. The Mayans were in their case cheering as they watched everyone fighting.

"Come on, guys!" Larry groaned.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Raya added.

"Hey! Guys!"

Both of them stepped to the bench, being careful not to crush any of the miniatures on the floor, and found Jedediah and Octavius fighting each other.

"Hey, guys!" Larry called to them. Neither of them stopped fighting. "Hey! Guys!" Unable to get their attention, Larry snapped at them.

"Ow!" both of them exclaimed, the small noise being extremely loud because of their size.

"Sorry. What's going on? What happened here? I thought we had a deal!"

"We will never coexist with these buffoons!" Octavius shouted, pointing a finger at Jedediah.

"We're past words, Laredo!" Jedediah yelled. "Now it's time to let Smith & Wesson do the talkin'!"

"Those guns don't even work."

"They don't? Take a look at this."

Jedediah hit Octavius on the head with his gun and the two of them started going at each other once more. Larry looked up to find Dexter chittering playfully before running off again.

"Dexter!" Larry called. He hopped onto the bench so as not to step on any miniatures and followed the monkey.

Raya looked at Jed and Octavius. "We'll deal with you two later."

She took off after Larry and found him spraying the Neanderthals with a fire extinguisher after his bright idea to give them a lighter went south.

The Neanderthals looked at the foam questioningly before putting it to their mouths and eating it. Raya looked on with a disgusted look on her face. One of the Neanderthals looked at Larry and threw some of the foam at him where it landed on his mouth.

Larry shrugged and looked at them. "Why?"

The Neanderthals started hooting and laughing together.

Larry frantically turned around when he heard Dexter chittering again. "Ho! Dexter!"

They both followed the monkey to an exhibit that was similar to the Wild West diorama, but Raya couldn't remember which exhibit went inside.

"End of the line, cool breeze," Larry said to the monkey. "End of the line." He jumped up onto the exhibit. "I am not playing games here. Just hand them over. Easy. Easy, Dexter. Nice and easy, Dex. That's it."

Larry was now just a few inches from Dexter and for a second, it looked like he was going to hand over the two sets of keys he had in his hand. But then his other hand came up and slapped Larry hard on the face. After the third slap, Larry retaliated and slapped Dexter back.

For several seconds, Larry and Dexter just stood there slapping each other.

"Larry, things are falling apart in here!" Raya said. "We don't have time for this!"

Neither one of them paid attention to her.

"Good Lord, Lawrence! Why are you slapping a monkey?"

Raya turned to find Teddy walking up behind her.

Larry looked over at the former president. "Teddy, this guy's been pushing me and pushing me, and I am sick of it!"

"Poppycock. This little creature is your primate brother. Without him, there's no us." He looked at Larry and noticed the fire extinguisher foam around his mouth. "Are you rabid? Wipe that off." He handed Larry his handkerchief. "You have to deal with this creature with love and respect." Teddy looked at Dexter. "May I have the keys, dear friend?" With hardly any hesitation, Dexter handed over both sets of keys.

"Oh, so he listens to you?" Raya said dryly.

"Thank you," Teddy said to the monkey. He handed the keys out for the two night guards. "Lawrence? Raya?"

The both of them took their keys from him. Raya put hers back on her keychain.

"Well, you know what?" Larry said, finally at the end of his rope. "You seem to know what you're doing, Teddy, so, uh, I'm gonna let you take over, all right?"

He angrily gave his keys back to Teddy.

"No, no!" Teddy exclaimed as he and Raya followed after him. "My dear boy, you can't put up the white flag now! The museum is on the verge of total anarchy!"

"Look, I tried! I came back tonight, didn't I?"

"Tried? That was one night. I didn't build the Panama Canal in one day!"

"Yeah, well, that's great, Teddy, but I'm dealing with the most ridiculous job in history!"

"Some people would kill for this opportunity," Raya told him. "To be able to watch everything come alive! I know it's hard right now, but all things worth doing take hard work."

"You just want me to stay so you can have your internship."

"Believe it or not, I don't always care about just me. I'm thinking of you too."

"The lass is right, son," Teddy said. "Some men are born great, Lawrence—"

"Yeah, I know," Larry interrupted. "Others have greatness thrust upon them. You hit me with that chestnut last night. The thing is, not everyone is great. That's the problem. Some of us are just ordinary."

"No, you're not, Lawrence. For the love of Gideon, stop wallowing in self-pity." Larry started furiously packing his bag. "Every great journey begins with a single footstep. If you could teach the inhabitants to get along, they wouldn't need to be locked up."

"Oh, well, that means a lot coming from a guy who's spent the last 50 years spying on a girl he's never even talked to."

"Larry, relax," Raya said.

"I was going to make contact," Teddy said sheepishly. "Lawrence, please." He held out Larry's keys again.

"I'm done, all right?" Larry briskly walked off when Rexy came up to him. "No, Rexy! No!"

Rexy sagged a little bit at Larry's harshness.

Raya looked over at Teddy. "If he goes, I have to go too. I'm not allowed to work here without him."

"Maybe you can get him to understand," Teddy said to her.

"I can try." Raya walked over to Rexy. "Come here, boy." She gently put her hand to his nose and rubbed it. "Be good, okay?"

Rexy perked up again and wagged his tail as he returned to his pedestal. Raya looked over to find Larry staring at something in the distance.

"Larry, what is it?" she asked. She walked over to him and saw that he was looking at an open window. The both of them ran over to it and looked outside. To their horror, one of the Neanderthals had climbed outside. They looked up at the sky and saw dawn fast approaching.

"Oh, no," Larry said quietly.

They both booked it to the doors and ran out. Larry slowed, but Raya kept running to reach the Neanderthal and drag him inside if necessary.

But she was too late. As soon as she got to the Neanderthal, he turned to dust in her hands. She just stood there in shock for a second as a street sweeper went over the remains of the Neanderthal and erased any evidence that he had ever existed.

She turned back around and looked up at Larry with a sullen expression on her face. They both trudged back through the doors of the museum, knowing there was nothing they could do.

Larry looked over and found Teddy frozen in wax form with his keys held out in his now lifeless hand.

"The choice is yours," Raya told him.

Larry paused for a moment, and then took the keys from the president. "All right."

Raya smiled at him, thankful that she would get to keep her job here. It was kind of growing on her.


	7. Third Night

The two of them went to the locker room and changed out of their uniforms into regular clothes.

"Mr. Daley. Miss Daniels," Dr. McPhee said as he stormed over to them.

"Yeah?" Larry asked.

He pointed to the Neanderthal exhibit which still hadn't gotten cleaned up from the fire. "Foam."

"Yes, I know."

"In the Neanderthal display."

"I know. I know. There was an incident last night with the fire extinguisher. We were literally on our way to go clean it up."

"Okay, don't bother. You're both fired. You, you can forget those college credits."

Dr. McPhee stormed off again back to his office. Raya looked at Larry disappointedly. This was the third time she had lost her internship in two days. It was really getting old.

"Come on," Larry said to her.

Neither of them saw the little boy watching the confrontation broken-heartedly.

"Excuse me?" Larry called after the museum director. "Mr. McPhee? Excuse me, Mr. McPhee? Can I talk to you about this, please, sir?"

"What?" Dr. McPhee answered shortly.

"I know we screwed up, but we think we finally understand how to do this job."

"You obviously don't. That's the point."

"No, we didn't, but now we do. Really, Mr. McPhee, if you just give us one—"

"Doctor," the man interrupted.

" _Doctor_ McPhee, just…Can you please give us one more night?"

Dr. McPhee studied them both for a second before finally saying, "One more night."

"Okay, thank you."

"And if anything is the tiniest…after your shift…" He made crashing noises with his lips and pounded his fists together. "Because…"

"Got it."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…"

They both waited for him to finish the phrase, but it never came. "Shame on me," Larry offered.

"Huh?"

"Fool me—Shame on me."

"You."

"Fool me twice—Got it."

"Take it or leave it."

"Okay. Thank you."

The two night guards left the man's office. Raya looked over at Larry. "I don't think I've ever met a more incoherent man in all my life. I mean, it's almost impossible to figure out exactly what he means!"

"Alright. We've got one more chance to do this right. I think if we play our cards right, we'll be fine."

"I hope so."

"Are you gonna head back to your dorm?"

"Actually, I'm gonna hang around here a bit. Maybe I can get a better idea of how to deal with some of these exhibits."

"Suit yourself. I'll see you tonight then."

"Hey, Larry?" she called before he walked off. "Look, I know you're staying for your son more than anything, and I think that's great, but…it means a lot to me too that you're sticking with it."

She smiled warmly before heading up to the third floor of the museum. Then she slowly approached Ahkmenrah's tomb once more. It was rather refreshing to be able to walk up to the sarcophagus without hearing the awful yelling coming from it.

Her eyes peered up at the tablet. How could something so small have such power?

Her fingers lightly brushed over the stone slab on top of the sarcophagus.

"I don't know if you're good or bad," she said to the pharaoh inside. "But I'm sorry you have to stay locked up in that thing. Hopefully, someday soon, we'll be able to free you, just to see what kind of person you are. Hold onto that hope." Raya shook her head. "I'm talking to a mummy. This job is making me lose my mind."

* * *

When Raya walked into the locker room that evening to change into her uniform, she was surprised to see Nicky sitting on the couch.

"Hey, Nicky," she said to him as she put her things in her locker. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought him," Larry told her as he came into the room. "I thought I would, uh, show him what we do."

Raya smiled. "Well, you're in for one heck of a night."

"So I've heard," Nicky said doubtfully.

"Okay, Nicky," Larry said to his son. "We're gonna make our rounds to make sure everyone's out of the museum and then we'll come back to get you, okay?"

"Okay."

Larry and Raya began walking around the halls of the museum to check for any stragglers or young children who may have gotten separated from their parents. They definitely didn't need a stranger to see what happened when the sun went down.

As they passed by Sakagawea's case, they saw Rebecca sitting in front of it.

"Hey, miss?" Larry called jokingly. "We're gonna have to ask you to vacate the premises."

Rebecca turned and smiled at them. "Hey there."

"Hey."

"Good place to think, huh?"

"Yeah. Definitely. So no big plans tonight?"

"Yeah, no, I'm not really a big-plan person."

"It's okay, neither am I," Raya said. "On weekends during the school year, I buy myself a pizza and watch a movie in my dorm room."

Rebecca laughed lightly. "I prefer hanging out with people who were dead for 200 years. It's the live ones that throw me."

"That's cool," Larry said. "Seriously though, you do have to leave."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, sorry. It's just museum rules, and we're sort of locking everything up."

"No. Okay. You're really taking your job seriously. Okay."

"You know, once I clip on the tie, I'm all business."

"I get it."

"Yeah. How's that dissertation coming?"

"Oh, yeah, you're writing a paper about Sakagawea, right?" Raya asked. "Larry told me about that."

Rebecca sighed as she put her purse over her shoulder. "Oh, I've hit a dead end. I mean, research can only get me so far. I'm never gonna know who she really was. So I think it's time that I move on to another subject. I'll let you both get back to work."

"Okay…" Larry said hesitantly.

"Good night, Larry. Good night, Raya."

"Yeah, okay. Night."

Raya looked at Larry as Rebecca left the room. "Think we should tell her?"

"I think we should tell her." They both took off the way Rebecca had left. "Hey! Rebecca! Hey, Rebecca."

Rebecca turned to both of the night guards. "Hey."

"Hey. Listen, we don't think you should give up on your paper."

"Okay. Why?"

"All right, look, this is gonna sound crazy, all right? I mean, it's gonna sound, like, really, really crazy."

"Okay."

"No, I mean like insanely crazy."

"I can handle it."

"Okay. You know how they say in certain museums, history comes alive?"

"Yeah."

"In this museum…it actually does."

Rebecca stared at him as if he was speaking a different language.

"It's true," Raya added.

"What are you talking about?" she asked in a whisper.

Larry looked behind her for a second to make sure no one was listening before he whispered to her, "Everything in this museum comes to life at night."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I'm not kidding you. You know that tablet, the Tablet of Ahkmenrah?"

"Mm-hmm."

"It actually brings things to life. It's like some ancient spell. Since the 50s when it came here, every night everything's been coming to life. We know this because Teddy Roosevelt told us. Seriously. The monkey, Dexter? Right? The cute little…What is he? Like a—a—"

"A capuchin," Rebecca said dryly.

"A capuchin, right. The capuchin. He urinated on me and bit my nose."

"It was really funny too," Raya said, giggling as the memory came back to her.

"And Sakagawea is in her case, alive every night, just listening to Lewis and Clark argue. So if you really wanna get inside her head…we can hook that up."

"That's cool," Rebecca said with a thin smile.

"Yeah, it's cool! It's freaking awesome!"

"Make fun of the history geek." She began storming off towards the museum doors.

"No. Rebecca!"

"Good night, Larry."

"No, we're not making fun of you. Rebecca!"

Raya looked over at Larry. "It _does_ sound pretty unbelievable."

"Yeah…Well, I'm gonna go get Nicky. At least he'll actually get to see it."

"I can't wait to see the look on his face! Although, I hope that things go better than the last two nights or that kid might never speak to you again."

"Relax. I think we got it down now."

"I hope so."

Larry went back to the locker room and soon returned with Nicky behind him. He lifted his son up by the waist and set him down on top of the main desk.

"Here you go. Best seat in the house."

"What's going on?" Nicky asked.

"If I told you, you'd think I'm crazy, so we're gonna show you."

"What?"

Larry looked at his watch. "You'll see in about 20 seconds. Okay, you like Tyrannosaurus Rex?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah? Well, we call him Rexy. And he's about to come to life, Nicholas, in…five, four, three, two…"

Larry overdramatically pointed to Rexy…but nothing happened. Raya's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Dad?"

"Hang on a sec. Say hello to Rexy!"

He pointed to the dinosaur again, but still Rexy didn't move.

"Dad, are you okay?"

"This is weird," Larry said as he stood up again. "Guys! Come on! Sundown!" He ran over to the wax figure of Teddy. "Hey, T.R., come on, rise and shine, buddy. I need you to wake up. Come on, my kid is here. I need you to wake up." Larry started banging on Texas to try to get him to move. "Texas? Texas, come on! Texas, come on! Get on, Texas! Whoo! Get on, Texas! Giddap!"

"Just stop, okay?" Nicky said as he hopped down from the desk.

"No, Nicky, I'm telling you, there's this tablet, okay? It's called the Tablet of Ahkmenrah, and every night at sundown—"

"Now there's a tablet?"

"Yeah, there is."

"Come on, Dad."

"Nicky, he's not lying," Raya said to the young disappointed boy. "Believe me, I almost died these past two nights because of that tablet."

"Come on," Larry said. He ushered the two of them up to Ahkmenrah's tomb.

Raya didn't know which was worse: hearing the poor pharaoh screaming and yelling or hearing absolutely nothing after sundown when he was supposed to be alive.

Larry shined his flashlight up on the wall behind the sarcophagus. No tablet. "It's gone."

"What's gone?" Nicky asked.

"The tablet. I think somebody stole it."

"Yeah, right."

"I'm not kidding, Nicky."

"Cecil did say that thing was pure gold and was worth a fortune," Raya said. "But no one could've taken it during the day, and we haven't seen anyone tonight except Rebecca."

Larry looked to the entrance of the tomb to find his son gone. "Nicky? Hey! Nicky!" The two of them ran after him to find him bounding down the stairs. "Hey! Hey, Nicky! Where are you going? Huh?"

"Home," Nicky answered shortly.

"What? Wait a minute."

They all heard a door open and looked out the window to find a shadow down where the loading dock was.

Raya looked over at Larry with a concerned look on her face. No one was supposed to be at the museum at this hour except them.


	8. Meeting Ahkmenrah

"Come on."

They all went down to the loading dock to find a lot of wrapped up artifacts. Several gold pieces sat in a small cart…including the Tablet of Ahkmenrah.

"Whoa," Nicky said with a smile as he picked up the gold piece.

"You guys shouldn't be here," Cecil's voice said suddenly.

They all quickly turned around to find the previous night guards walking into the room.

"Give us the tablet, son," Reginald ordered.

"Wait a minute, Nicky," Larry said, protectively stepping in front of the boy. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're not gonna hurt you," Gus said. "Give us the tablet."

"I'm sorry to tell you this, son," Cecil said to Nicky, "but your dad and his friend don't work here anymore. Got fired this morning. Couldn't hack it."

"Dad?" Nicky said crestfallen. "I thought you said you weren't fired."

Larry looked at Nicky and said firmly, "I did, Nicky. They're lying. They're trying to steal that thing. Turn the middle piece, you'll see what we were talking about."

"That is museum property, son," Cecil said. "Give it back."

"Nicky, trust me. Just turn it."

"Give us the tablet!" Gus yelled.

"Nicky? Trust me."

Nicky looked over at Raya and she nodded to show that she agreed with his father. The boy looked down at the tablet and turned the center piece. It began to glow brightly before their eyes, much to Nicky's amazement. Raya didn't know the tablet glowed at sundown. It was pretty cool.

Raya and Larry looked back at the old men and watched as they cracked their joints and appeared to get a little less…elderly.

"Nick? Run. Now," Larry ordered.

Nicky quickly took off back inside the museum.

"Get back here, kid!" Gus yelled as he attempted to go after him.

Larry grabbed him by the shoulders, but Cecil grabbed Larry and flung him to the ground with strength that far surpassed his age.

"Bad idea, Larry," he said with a smirk.

"You wanna dance, hot dog?" Gus yelled. "You wanna dance?"

"Gus, you're an old man," Larry said. "I don't wanna hurt—" Larry was cut off as Gus punched him in the nose. "Ooh! Ow!" Gus punched him again on the cheek, leaving behind a slight cut.

"You see, Larry, a few years into the job, the three of us realized that, like everything else in this museum, we got new life at night," Cecil explained. "Sundown to sunrise, we felt young again."

Cecil delivered a spin-kick to Larry's stomach and sent him crashing to the ground.

"Okay. Did not see that coming," Larry groaned.

"Gave us an energy boost," Reginald smiled.

"And to think I called you all sweethearts," Raya said bitterly.

She went straight for Cecil, but he punched her hard in the face and sent her on the ground next to Larry.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to hit a girl?"

Cecil smirked as he knelt down next to them. "We love the nightlife, you two. So when we found out they were gonna fire us, we had to steal the tablet."

"Everyone knows you both need the money," Reginald added. "College student like yourself?"

"Add the stuff we planted in your places, pretty obvious you two committed the crime."

"How did you get into my dorm room?" Raya cried. "The security is crazy."

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to copy a college ID card. Take care of those cuts." He looked up at his companions. "Come on, guys. Let's go find that kid."

Gus hopped up onto one of the crates in the room. "Sweet dreams, cupcake!"

"No!" Larry screamed.

"Pile driver!"

He hopped off the crate and landed on Larry's back. When Raya tried to get up, he kicked her in the stomach and they both resumed their place on the ground.

"Let's get our tablet."

Raya flipped over so that she was on her back. "I officially hate those guys," she gasped. "Are you okay?"

"My ego is a little bruised. You?"

"I think I'll survive."

"Come on. We gotta find Nicky before they do."

The two of them painfully got up off the ground and ran through the museum looking for Larry's son.

"Thank you very much. We'll take it from here," they heard Cecil say.

"Nicky!" Larry cried as he ran around the corner.

Cecil flipped him over and stole his keys in the process. Then Reginald turned Raya around and forced her arm painfully behind her back while Gus stole her own set of keys. Once they were both robbed of their keys, Reginald tossed Raya into the tomb with Larry and Nicky.

"Just in time, you two," Cecil smirked. "We were just locking up."

"Sleep tight, hotshots," Gus said with a laugh.

"You won't get away with this," Raya growled.

Cecil held up the tablet. "I think we already have. Let's grab everything we can fence. I don't know about you, but I'm planning on a long retirement."

All three of them ran to the gate.

"Teddy!" Larry called. "Teddy, if you're out there, we need you, pal!"

"Someone call my name?" Teddy smiled as he rode up on his horse.

"Whoa," Nicky smiled.

"Theodore Roosevelt, at your service."

"Teddy, can you get us out of here?" Larry asked desperately.

"Can't do it, man. This is your moment. For both of you."

"Will you save the lectures, please? We're not you. Okay? We didn't build the Panama Canal. We weren't president of the United States! We need some help. Come on."

"Actually…" Teddy sheepishly removed his glasses. "I never did any of those things. Teddy Roosevelt did. I was made in a mannequin factory in Poughkeepsie. I never shot a wild beast. I'm not even brave enough to tell that beautiful woman I love her. But you…both of you…you gotta finish the job this time. You can't quit. I'm made of wax, Larry. What are you two made of?"

Teddy began riding off.

"Whoa, whoa!" Larry yelled. "Wait a minute! That's all you got for us?"

"That's it!"

The three of them frantically turned around to find the jackal guards looking at them angrily for disturbing the tomb.

Raya looked back at the sarcophagus. It shook again as the person trapped inside screamed and yelled. It hurt her to hear it just as much as it did the first night. His yelling didn't sound angry. It sounded desperate.

"That's it," Larry muttered. "Come on." He grabbed Nicky and they all ran past the jackals. "Duck!" They just barely avoided being hit by the jackals' spears. "Go over there!"

Nicky ran behind the pillar on the left side of the room. Larry and Raya quickly shoved the stone slab off the sarcophagus.

"Guess this day is coming sooner than we thought," Raya told him.

Larry took out the pins on the sarcophagus that held it shut. As soon as the second pin was out, the lid of the sarcophagus was forcefully flung into the wall. The mummy slowly sat up from the sarcophagus.

"Hey. Hi. How you doing?" Larry said quickly. "Um, sorry to bother you, but, uh, your guys there? Your jackal guys? Do you think you could actually ask them to back off, please? We're not trying to hurt you, and I think they think we are. Do you think you could possibly do it, like, NOW?"

The mummy turned to the jackals and yelled something in what Raya presumed was Egyptian. The jackals immediately got on one knee and placed their fists over their chests in respect.

"Thank you," Larry breathed. "Nicky. Thank you."

The mummy slowly turned back to them. Larry backed up against the pillar as the mummy began to rise out of the sarcophagus with angry yells and shouts.

"Dad?" Nicky said nervously.

He grabbed onto his father's arm while Raya put her arms around the young boy protectively. Maybe the mummy's yells hadn't actually been as desperate as she thought.

The mummy started to undo the wrapping on its head, and Raya tensed up significantly, really not wanting to see anything resembling Imhotep from _The Mummy_.

Finally, the wrappings came off and the pharaoh inside coughed, releasing a large cloud of dust.

"You would not believe how stuffy it is in there," he said, revealing that he had a British accent.

Raya was in utter disbelief. He was…cute. Like…more than cute. He was downright hot. She hadn't seen that one coming.

"How come you speak English?" Nicky asked.

"I went to Cambridge University," the 'mummy' answered.

"You went to Cambridge?" Larry said in surprise.

"I was on display in the Egyptology Department." He turned to face them all. "I am Ahkmenrah, fourth king of the fourth king, ruler of the land of my fathers."

"Uh, I'm, uh, Larry…son of Milton, and, uh, this is my son, Nick. And this is our friend, Raya…daughter of…"

"Aaron," Raya finished, unable to take her eyes off the pharaoh.

"Right. And we hail from Brooklyn. Well, I do. I mean, he comes out and stays with me on Wednesdays…and every other weekend." Ahkmenrah looked at him in confusion. "That was the, uh, custody agreement that we had."

"Larry, Nick, Raya, guardians of Brooklyn, I am forever in your debt. Now bestow the tablet upon me, so that I may assume command of my kingdom." He held his hand out to them for the tablet.

"Oh, yes," Larry said awkwardly. "Okay, the tablet. We would love to bestow it upon you, but we don't actually…have it."

Ahkmenrah's eyes narrowed and for a second, Raya worried that their fears were going to come true.

But instead of doing anything harmful to them, Ahkmenrah ordered his jackals to bust down the gate that locked them in. Meanwhile, he undid the rest of his wrapping and changed into his pharaoh robes. Raya tried to ignore how handsome he looked in them and how much it revealed his beautiful tan skin and his incredible abs.

She was such a terrible night guard…

"Thanks, guys," Larry said to the jackals. "Don't worry. We'll watch out for him!" The jackals put their hands to their chests in respect and Larry did some kind of poor imitation of that. "Thank you."


	9. Chase Through New York

The group rushed out to the balcony that overlooked the first floor lobby. They were met with almost all of the exhibits fighting one another. Various objects were flying and the whole room was trashed.

Ahkmenrah looked over at the other side of the balcony. "What is that?"

Larry and Raya looked over to find Attila and his soldiers.

"Huns," Larry answered. "I gotta deal with this guy."

The Huns started running to Larry while Larry, Raya, Nicky, and Ahkmenrah all ran to the Huns.

Larry and Attila ran up to one another and just stood there screaming at each other for a few seconds.

Attila then shouted something in his native dialect. Larry shouted back what Raya was sure was complete gibberish. Attila shouted back at him, and Larry just did the same.

This time, Attila looked a little confused at what exactly Larry was saying to him.

"Pardon me, Larry," Ahkmenrah said. "I speak Hun." He looked at Attila and gave a small little bow before addressing him in his native language.

Attila said something angrily and made the clear sign that he wanted to rip Larry's body.

"He says that he wants to rip you apart," Ahkmenrah told Larry, confirming Raya's suspicions.

"All right. Again with the ripping," Larry said to Attila. "Listen, I understand. I get it. Ripping for you—You want to rip things, okay? And I think maybe that's because somebody ripped you a long time ago. In here." He pointed to his own heart. "Did somebody rip little…little baby Attila a long time ago right here?" Now he pointed to Attila's heart. "They ripped—They ripped something out, didn't they? They ripped love. They ripped love right out of you, didn't they? A little baby all alone in a tent whose daddy went off to pillage some town or go and plunder somewhere. Just doing his job. But who was left alone? You."

To Raya's surprise, Attila began to sob. Larry went up and hugged him and he just sobbed onto the night guard's shoulder. She exchanged glances with Nicky and Ahkmenrah, wondering if this was really happening.

"It's okay. It's okay. Let it out. Let it go. Let it go."

Larry began to sing a lullaby in gibberish as he hugged Attila and the Hun actually began to sing along with Larry, despite the fact that the words weren't even real.

"It's okay. It's okay." He looked at the soldier behind Attila. "You're next."

The soldier nodded as Attila finally released Larry and took a deep breath.

"Good. That's good. Just breathe. Just—Just—Yeah."

"Larry Daley?" Attila said.

"Yeah?"

He said something to Larry in his language. Whatever it was, he said it with a small smile which meant that he was now on their side. He then hit Larry on his chest to which Larry did the same.

In response, Attila hit Larry even harder. Larry hit Attila back, and the Hun laughed at Larry's tough retaliation.

"Yeah. Okay. Good, good!" Larry ran over to the balcony and looked down at the fighting exhibits. "All right! We need everybody to listen up!"

No one looked in their direction.

"Everyone shut up!" Raya yelled.

Still nothing.

"Guys! Come on!" Larry said.

"QUIEEEEEEEEEEEET!" the Easter Island head shouted for a good several seconds. The exhibits all stopped moving and looked up. "My dum-dums want to speak."

"Thank you," Larry said. He looked at the exhibits and put his hand on the pharaoh's shoulder. "Now, this here's King Ahkmenrah. His tablet is what brings you to life every night. And those old night watchmen? They stole it. Now, we need to find those guards and get the tablet back and we need to do it before morning. Civil War guys!" The mannequins stood in a soldier pose. "Head over to the Planetarium Wing." He pointed to the Italian explorer statue. "My explorer friend whose name escapes me…"

"It's Columbus," Nicky whispered.

"Right, Columbus! Right, I'm sorry. There's no nameplate. So, Columbus, take the Neanderthals, and do a sweep from Invertebrates all the way through Reptiles. Jed and Octavius, their van's parked out back. Go take care of it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, no!" Jedediah said firmly. "No, sir. I ain't workin' with toga boy."

"Romans work alone," Octavius said. Jedediah hit him on the foot with one of his weapons. "Ow!"

"That didn't hurt. Don't be a baby."

"Yes, it did!"

"Come on." Octavius hit him with his sword. "Ow! That was much harder!"

The two miniatures resumed hitting each other with their weapons.

"Guys, come on!" Larry yelled. The two of them looked back up at him. "Jed, Octavius. Take away the fact you were born 2,000 years apart, you guys aren't that different. You're both great leaders. You just want what's best for your people, right?"

"Yeah," they both sheepishly answered.

"Civil War dudes." The mannequins looked up at the night guard. "You guys are brothers, for God's sakes. You've gotta stop fighting. North wins. Slavery's bad. Sorry. Don't wanna burst your bubble. But, South, you guys get Allman Brothers and…NASCAR, so just chill!"

"Don't forget Orlando!" Raya tossed in. "You got Disney World and Universal Studios!"

"There you go! Look, without that tablet, all of this—this whole coming-to-life-at-night thing—it all goes away. Now, Raya and I don't wanna let that happen, but we need your help. We can get this done, but we gotta do it together. So who's with us?"

Everyone murmured their agreements.

"Who's with us?!"

"Yeah!" everyone shouted as they raised their fists and weapons.

"Charge!" Teddy yelled.

Rexy roared loudly, voicing his own agreement.

"All right!" Larry shouted. "Now let's do this, people!" He smiled over at Nicky. "And animals! And…weird, faceless puppet creatures. Come on, let's go! Let's do it!"

As everyone ran off to protect their home, Larry, Nicky, Raya, and Ahkmenrah tried to go find the tablet before anything happened to it.

"That was a killer speech," Raya smiled. "I think this might be the first night the museum has ever actually cooperated before."

"Yeah. Who knew that was even possible?"

"We must just be lucky."

They passed by a bench and found that the Civil War mannequins, Columbus, and the Neanderthals had tied up Gus and Reginald.

"That's what I'm talking about," Larry praised. "Good job, gentlemen. Loving the teamwork!"

They all continued running until they got to the loading dock. But they weren't quick enough. The van was gone.

"They've vanished," Ahkmenrah said. "How will we find them?"

"I know someone who can help," Larry told him. "Come on."

Everyone ran to Sakagawea's display case. Larry picked up one of the cannonballs on the museum piece next to her display.

"Watch out!" he yelled to the woman inside.

Sakagawea ran to the side and covered her head as Larry slammed the ball into the glass, shattering the whole thing upon impact. Raya, Nicky, and Ahkmenrah turned around and shielded their faces so as not to get injured by any stray shards of glass.

"Hey, Sakagawea or 'waya'," Larry said to the now freed woman. "Listen, we need a favor. Somebody stole his tablet. Do you think you can track the guys who took it?"

Sakagawea followed them all back outside to the loading dock. Larry, Raya, and Nicky grabbed their coats from the locker room before watching Sacagawea look at the snow.

"He went east," she explained to them. "But he lost control and crashed."

"You're amazing," Larry said. "How can you tell that?"

She pointed a few feet away from them where the van sat after it had crashed into a pole.

Raya looked at Larry. "We are such idiots."

"He left the wagon," Sakagawea continued, "and went back."

"He went back?" Larry asked. "Why would he go back?"

Raya's head turned at the sound of a carriage coming towards them. She looked to find Cecil riding on top of the one from inside the museum…heading straight for Sakagawea.

"Get out of the way!" he yelled.

Sakagawea's eyes widened at the sight of the carriage. Suddenly, she was pushed out of the way and flung into the snow. When she looked over, she found that Teddy was her rescuer.

"You saved me," she said kindly as she went over to him.

"You're worth saving, my dear," Teddy smiled. He looked down to find that his torso had detached from his waist. "Oh. That's problematic."

"Teddy!" Larry exclaimed as they all rushed to his side. "Oh, man."

"Larry, relax. I'm wax. Listen, you two have gotta do something. Dawn's approaching, and half the museum is running amok outside."

"He's got my tablet," Ahkmenrah said.

Everyone looked towards the loading dock when they heard the sound of small tires screeching. The little remote control car that Larry had attached Rexy's bone to drove out.

"Yee-haw!" Jedediah shouted. "Come on, Ockie!" He drove up to the group. "At your service, Gigantor and Gigantess!"

"How can we be of assistance, my lieges?" Octavius asked.

"Just give us a second, guys," Larry told them. He looked up as Rexy came to the loading dock. "Rexy. Here, boy." He looked down at Teddy. "Teddy, I need a horse."

"Do it, man."

Larry looked over at Raya and she smiled broadly as she managed to guess what he was thinking.

Larry and Raya quickly ran back inside the museum. While Larry hopped up onto Texas, Raya grabbed a rug. Larry and Texas came galloping back out through the loading dock entrance. Raya tossed the rug onto Rexy's back then ordered Nicky to climb on. She climbed on after him followed by Ahkmenrah.

Raya tried her best to just focus on the plan and forget about how Ahkmenrah was holding onto her waist in order to stay on top of Rexy's back.

They all took off on their 'rides' and went after Cecil. Larry and Texas took the road Cecil was on while Rexy and his passengers took off down the road parallel to them.

Nicky laughed in excitement as they rode down the street. Raya could hear Ahkmenrah laughing as well behind her. He had a beautiful laugh…

Rexy made it to the end before Cecil did and followed Jedediah and Octavius in the small car around the bend and onto the other road.

Jedediah tried to turn the car before they got trampled by Cecil's carriage and ended up flipping over a snowbank and sending up a small explosion.

With no bone to follow, Rexy roared and stopped.

"Rexy, down!" Raya ordered.

She quickly hopped off Rexy's back and ran to Larry who was looking at the snowbank where Jedediah and Octavius had disappeared.

"Larry!" she called. "Come on."

Larry took her hand and hefted her up behind him onto Texas's back. "Come on, Tex, let's finish this." He urged Texas on and they both galloped off after the carriage. "Hyah! Hyah! Come on!" Texas finally caught up with the carriage and rode alongside it. "Give us the tablet, Cecil!"

"Can't do it, son!" Cecil yelled back.

"Pull over!"

"It ain't gonna happen! Moving on!"

"Last chance, Cecil! Stop the horses or we will!"

"They can't be stopped, Larry. Don't you know your history? These are money carriers. They were trained not to stop for anything but a secret word!"

"Really? You mean a word like…"

"Dakota!" he and Raya screamed together.

The carriage came to a halt which sent Cecil flying forward into the snow.

"Come on, Tex," Larry urged.

Texas rode over to where Cecil had landed, and Larry and Raya dismounted from him. Raya picked up the tablet that had landed next to Cecil, thankful it appeared unharmed.

"We read up on our history," Larry smiled. "Thanks for the tip. Oh, and by the way, don't ever talk to me like that in front of my son." He hefted Cecil up by the jacket. "Moving on."

Attila and his soldiers came over to Larry, Raya, and Cecil and were soon joined by Nicky and Ahkmenrah. Larry handed Cecil over to the Hun soldiers.

"Hey, Huns." Larry looked at the pharaoh. "Tell Attila to have his boys take him back to the museum, put him with the rest of the guards, okay?"

Ahkmenrah looked at Attila and translated the message. Attila nodded in response.

"Oh, and no limb ripping, okay?" Larry told the Hun.

Attila said something to Larry in his native language.

"No, no, no, no."

Attila held up his thumb and index finger and asked a question.

Larry and Raya looked at Cecil and then at each other before looking back to Attila.

"Makeekaka," they said together.

Attila made a triumphant fist and shouted orders to his soldiers. They all hefted a nervous Cecil up above their heads.

"Hey, w-wait. Hold the phone," Cecil panicked. "What does 'makeekaka' mean? Wait. Translation, please."

Raya smirked and waved as Cecil was carried back to the museum.

Larry looked off into the distance and Raya followed his gaze. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw a faint trace of orange.

"Oh, boy," Larry muttered.

"What is it?" Ahkmenrah asked.

"Sunrise," Raya answered quietly.


	10. Successful Night Guards

Larry looked back at the others. "We gotta get you guys back to the museum."

Nicky looked over at all the animals beside them. "How?"

"Ahkmenrah, we're gonna need your help. This is your tablet. You know the instructions. We need you to get everyone back."

Raya handed Ahkmenrah his tablet, trying not to stare at him. He looked down at the tablet and began reading the hieroglyphics written on it. Raya would be lying if she said that it wasn't kinda hot to hear him speaking his native language.

The tablet began to glow and all of the exhibits started to return to the museum at once. Ahkmenrah smiled at them.

Wow…he had an amazing smile…

Larry pulled out his cell phone as he put his arm around Nicky's shoulders. "Come on. There's somebody who's gotta see this."

Raya ended up next to Ahkmenrah as they all began to head back to the museum with the rest of the exhibits to make sure that everything got back okay.

She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered, her coat only doing so much for her.

"Are you all right?" Ahkmenrah asked her.

Raya smiled a little. "Unfortunately, some of us can still feel the cold. This jacket isn't doing enough right now."

"Allow me to be of some assistance."

Ahkmenrah began to remove his cloak.

"No, no, don't do that."

"It is all right. Like you said, I do not feel the cold."

He gently put the cloak around her shoulders. She hugged it tightly around her, instantly beginning to warm up.

Behind them, Larry raised his eyebrows a little, but didn't say anything.

Once they made it back to the museum, Raya took off the cloak and handed it back it its rightful owner with a small smile. She really hoped he didn't see that her cheeks were a bit redder than usual.

Larry, Raya, and Ahkmenrah stood by the doors, checking in all of the exhibits. Ahkmenrah held his tablet in front of him to protect it from further harm and use it in case anything else went wrong. Larry and Raya held two separate clipboards with a list of all the exhibits. Larry had A-L and Raya had M-Z. When each exhibit came through the doors, they checked it off the respective list.

"Inuit," Ahkmenrah stated.

"Yeah."

"One terracotta soldier. Vikings."

"Right."

"Alpaca."

"Welcome back, ladies."

"Llama."

"Hey, uh, Viking guys," Larry said to the incoming men as Raya checked them off her list. "Do us a favor. Your fellows made some funeral pyre-type thing in Petrified Wood. Go clean that up. Okay? Thank you."

There was a bang on the entrance door.

"Uh-oh. He's back," Ahkmenrah said to the night guards.

"All right, I'll deal with this joker." Larry and Raya went over to the door where a moose was trying desperately to fit through the door. "Hey, hey, Moose. It's not gonna happen, buddy. All right? We told you three times. You can't come through this door with those antlers. So you and your caribou buddy? You all gotta go around to the loading dock."

"Lawrence! Raya!" Teddy called, put back together again.

"Hey, Teddy," Larry said as the two of them went over to him. "Great to see you in one piece."

"Yeah, I'd like to try to explain _that_ to Dr. McPhee," Raya laughed.

"Sakagawea, a little hot wax, and I'm a new man."

"Larry?"

Larry and Raya turned to find Rebecca at the museum entrance looking she had just won the lottery. The two of them went over to her.

Larry smiled broadly. "I told you we weren't making fun of you."

"I know."

"Teddy?" Sakagawea called. She walked over and handed Teddy his gun and his sword.

"Oh, my Lord…" Rebecca gasped quietly.

"Wanna meet her?" Larry asked.

Rebecca nodded eagerly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, come on." The three of them walked over to the new couple. "Excuse me. President Roosevelt, this is our friend Rebecca."

"An honor," Teddy smiled.

"Hi," Rebecca said.

"And this is 'Sakagawaya'."

"Wea," all four of them corrected.

"…Wea. I think she has a few questions she wants to ask you."

Rebecca just looked at the woman for a moment, completely speechless. "You rock," she finally said. "I am a big fan."

Sakagawea smiled warmly. "What would you like to know?"

"Um, well, I don't know where to start."

The two women walked off, and Raya smiled at Rebecca's impossible dream becoming a reality. She looked back over towards he door and met Ahkmenrah's eyes. He smiled back at her, and she could feel butterflies in her stomach.

She had met this guy six hours ago. How on earth was he having this effect on her? A part of her kind of wished he did look like Imhotep. At least then he wouldn't be so darn distracting to her.

Larry and Raya went back to the entrance to continue checking in all of the exhibits and Teddy decided to join them.

"One Buddha," Teddy said. "Namaste."

"Check," Larry said.

"Two zebras."

"Check," Raya told him.

Dexter came up to Teddy's feet. "Dexter! Welcome back." The monkey climbed up onto Teddy's shoulder.

"Hey, Dex. So look. No hard feelings, all right?"

Dexter hit Larry on the head, and Larry went to go hit him back with his clipboard.

"Lawrence!" Teddy berated.

"You saw! You saw what he did just then!"

"Who's evolved?"

"I am."

"Who's evolved?"

"I am!"

"Good."

Dexter jumped onto Nicky's shoulders before running back into the museum.

"Well, they're all here. Well done. Everyone's in."

Larry looked out to the city. "Yeah, well…not everyone. We lost a couple of good little men out there tonight."

"With great victory comes great sacrifice."

"They went out fighting, and I know that's how they would've wanted it," Raya said.

"Yeah," Larry muttered.

The three of them turned to go back inside.

"Dad, look," Nicky said to his father.

They turned back around and saw Jedediah and Octavius climbing up the last stair to the museum entrance. They were covered in ash and snow, but they were alive.

"Bully!" Teddy laughed.

"You ain't gettin' rid of us that easy," Jedediah said to the three adults.

Octavius put his fist to his chest, and the three of them repeated the action. They did the same when Jedediah saluted them.

Raya went back inside and found Ahkmenrah speaking with one of the other exhibits. "Come on," she smiled. "I'll walk you back."

The two of them walked up the stairs back to Ahkmenrah's tomb.

"So how does it feel to finally get out of that sarcophagus?" Raya asked.

"Amazing," Ahkmenrah answered. "I wanted to say something when I heard the old night guard giving Larry the tour. To tell him that everyone was wrong and I meant no harm."

"Wait a minute, you can hear what's going on during the day?"

"Of course. How else would I know how much you wanted to let me out?"

Raya let out a small nervous laugh. "Anyone with a heart who heard you screaming would want to let you out. I think I always knew that you were a good person."

"And you were right. And no, I do not think all of this is making you lose your mind."

"In my defense, it had been a long two nights. I hope you can forgive us for not letting you out sooner."

"Of course I do. Shall I see you tomorrow then?"

"Maybe. I most likely won't have a job here tomorrow. Not with the way the museum looks right now and everything that happened tonight."

"Well, I hope we shall meet again, Raya."

"I do too. Sleep well."

Ahkmenrah put his mummy wrappings on and got back in the sarcophagus. The jackals replaced the lid and the slab overtop of it.

Raya sighed heavily and returned back downstairs where Teddy was just bidding good-bye to Sakagawea.

"Until tomorrow evening, my friends," Teddy said as he walked over to Texas.

"Yeah. I don't know about that, Teddy," Larry told the president. "It's gonna be tough to talk our way out of this one."

"Well, if that's indeed the case, then it's farewell. Nick?" Nicky looked over at him. "Your father's a great man."

"I know," Nicky nodded.

Teddy smiled at Larry. "I told you."

Larry smiled back. "All right. Good night."

"No, Lawrence. Good day."

Larry started to walk away but he turned back. "Hey, Teddy?" It was too late. Teddy had reverted back to his wax form. "Thanks."

Raya looked over at Larry with a small smile. "I think I'm about to lose my internship for the fourth time."

"At least the next night guard they hire will have a heck of an easier job than we did."

With the help of Nicky and Rebecca, Larry and Raya were at least able to clean up the majority of the museum before Dr. McPhee got there.

However, he still looked pretty ticked off as he ushered them into his office. Without a word, he clicked on the TV and showed them a news station.

"You're watching New York 1," a voice said. "News all morning."

"Thanks for joining us this morning," an anchor said as he appeared on the screen. "There is a fresh blanket of snow on the ground today, but it's not the snow that's got New Yorkers talking. It's what's _in_ the snow. There are dinosaur tracks along West 81st Street. Here's the remarkable video." The screen showed Rexy's footprints in the snow from last night. "These appear to be Tyrannosaurus Rex tracks, and they lead straight to the Museum of Natural History."

Dr. McPhee angrily changed the channel.

"Authorities have found what appear to be cave drawings in the subway."

He changed the channel again.

"Neanderthals atop the museum roof. Elaborate hoax or publicity stunt? You be the judge, but one thing's for sure. The folks at the Natural History Museum have really outdone them—"

Dr. McPhee switched off the TV. "Any explanation at all?"

Larry and Raya looked at each other and opened their mouths, trying to come up with something to tell him.

"No," Larry finally said. "Got nothing."

"Coming up blank," Raya added.

Dr. McPhee stood up from his desk. "Good. I'll take both your keys and your flashlights."

The two night guards took their keys and flashlights from their belts and begrudgingly gave them to Dr. McPhee. They had obviously seen this coming, but it still hurt. They had just gotten all of the exhibits to get along not to mention that Raya really didn't want have to tell her mother that she had lost her internship for good.

The three of them walked back out to the lobby…and were met with hundreds of people in attendance. Three times as many tours were going on than usual.

Without a word, Dr. McPhee returned the keys and flashlights to the night guards with a small smile before returning to his office.

Raya smiled broadly at Larry. And for the fourth time, she got her internship back.

"See you tonight?" she smiled.

"See you tonight."

* * *

Larry and Raya made sure to discreetly return the pieces that the previous night guards had decided to plant in their places. No one ever noticed they were missing. Not even Dr. McPhee.

The two of them made all the necessary preparations before sundown, including getting Rexy's bone attached to the car. Then Larry put his I-Pod into the stereo that he found in the locker room and hooked it up so that the sound had a killer bass to it.

Raya went up to Ahkmenrah's tomb just as the sun went down and everything came alive. She pushed the slab off the sarcophagus and undid the lid. Ahkmenrah sat up to find Raya smiling at him.

"Kept the job," she said. "Come on."

She led him down to the lobby where all of the other exhibits had gathered, dancing to some Earth, Wind, Fire.

Raya joined Larry up on the balcony watching the exhibits down below. Everyone was dancing and having fun together for the first time in probably the museum's history. Even the miniatures were dancing and getting along.

Attila, his soldiers, Columbus, and some other exhibits had taken to playing a game of soccer. The large Hun grabbed Columbus in a bear hug when the explorer managed to score a goal.

Raya laughed as she watched Ahkmenrah dance ridiculously to the music.

Jedediah and Octavius came driving into the room with Rexy close behind and Nicky riding on Rexy's back just like last night.

"Hey, it's getting late," Larry said to his son. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Nope," Nicky smiled.

Larry and Raya laughed together. Raya headed down the steps and walked amongst the dancing exhibits.

Suddenly, she felt herself whisked around and found herself face-to-face with Ahkmenrah.

"May I have a dance with you?"

"Oh, no," Raya laughed nervously. "I don't dance."

"I don't either."

He started dancing ridiculously again as Raya couldn't help but laugh. She started to move a little to the music herself, but it was rather pathetic. It gave her flashbacks to her senior prom.

"You are not that bad," Ahkmenrah smiled.

"Yes, I am."

Ahkmenrah pulled her closer to him and began to dance with her. Evidently, he was a lot better when he had a partner. He guided her around the floor, and she laughed with him, her face beginning to feel a bit warm again.

After a few hours, the two of them began walking around the various halls of the museum. It was pretty quiet considering nearly everyone was down in the lobby.

"I feel like I know so little about you," Ahkmenrah said to Raya. "Can you tell me things about yourself?"

"Well, what would you like to know?"

"How about what you like to do?"

"Um, I guess I like to write things, and I like spending time here with everyone. I get good grades in school. I'm a college student right now. I haven't chosen a major yet though."

"That is what field of study you want to pursue, correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"It was quite beneficial to hear students and professors talking when they were exploring the Egyptology Department at Cambridge."

Raya smiled. "Yeah, it's good I don't have to start teaching you things from Square One. I think I would've lost my mind after a while."

Ahkmenrah laughed. "Is your family here?"

"Yes, my mother and father are in the state with me. Dad works a lot so I hardly ever see him. Mom is just…extremely overbearing. She's constantly telling me how to live my life and what she wants me to do with my future. I only have this internship because of her. She wouldn't allow me to go this summer without one."

"I believe that was for your benefit in the long run."

Raya playfully rolled her eyes. "Yes, I suppose this internship is far better than what I expected. Now tell me a little about yourself."

"I have been dead for nearly 4,000 years. There's not really much to tell."

"Well, you could tell me a little bit about your life back in Egypt."

"I was a pharaoh for a few years. I died quite young."

"How old are you?"

"I'm 25."

"That's so sad."

"If you want to get technical, I am approximately 4,025 years old."

"You've aged very well," Raya joked.

The two of them laughed as they continued to talk and walk around the halls. Raya hadn't realized how long they had been talking until the exhibits all began to head back to their proper places.

"I see it is time for me to return," Ahkmenrah said.

"Time flies when you've having fun."

"Until tomorrow, Raya."

"Until tomorrow."

Ahkmenrah returned to his sarcophagus while Raya went back to the lobby where Larry and Nicky were.

Both of them looked about ready to pass out, especially Nicky. Luckily, it was a Saturday, so they could all sleep the day away.

As Raya hung up her uniform in her locker for that night, she looked over at Larry with a smile. "Best…internship…ever."


	11. Working on Breaks

Raya was able to work at the museum for the following month on her winter break. Every night, she spent nearly all of her time with Ahkmenrah, talking with him about various things. He hardly ever talked about his family, but she decided not to press him on the matter. She was always curious as to how he died 4,000 years ago, and she just assumed that he had fallen ill or something along those lines. But again, she didn't want to press him on it since it had to be a sore subject for him, especially since he had died so young.

They would sit together watching some of the other exhibits play soccer or have a dance party. She was always surprised how easily conversation came with him. After all, he was a mummy. How many things could they have in common?

When things got out of control or some of the exhibits started fighting, Larry and Raya would quickly run over and sort out the issue. Every now and then, a couple exhibits had to be confined to their display for the remainder of the night in their own little version of a 'time-out'. It didn't happen often, but it happened.

Much too soon, her winter break came to an end.

Raya spent the majority of her night telling most of the exhibits in the museum that it was her last night at work.

"It's only for a little while," she explained to a very upset Jedediah. "I'll be back in a few months once Spring Break starts."

"A few _months_?" Jedediah said in disbelief. "How is Gigantor supposed to handle us all by himself?"

"I'm sure he'll survive. And I do not want to hear that you guys are making things difficult for him."

"We'll play nice, Gigantess."

Raya rolled her eyes at the cowboy's given nickname for her. "Promise?"

"You have our word," Octavius told her as he placed his fist over his chest. "We look forward to your return."

Raya smiled and looked at her phone. It was nearly sunrise.

So she headed to the last place she needed to visit for the night.

"I hear you are leaving," Ahkmenrah said as she approached his tomb.

"Only for a couple months," Raya told him. "Just until my next break. It's only going to be a week long, but then after that, I'll be off for three whole months."

"Why must you go?"

"This is all just an internship. The deal always was that I would only work while I'm on break. The rest of the time has to be devoted to my schoolwork. I'm going to try to visit if I can, but no guarantees."

"I shall miss our time together."

"I will too. Don't worry. My next break will be here before you know it."

"Until then, Raya."

To her surprise, Ahkmenrah gave her an informal kiss on the cheek before returning to his sarcophagus.

The life in the museum stilled as Raya's heart was pounding so hard, she feared Ahkmenrah would hear it even in his sleep-state.

With a smile, she headed to the locker room to change out of her uniform.

"So, I guess I'll see you in a couple months?" Larry asked.

"Yeah, I'll be back in March. I'll try to come by one night if I can. It all just depends on my workload this semester."

"Hurry back. I don't know how long I can keep these guys under control."

"I think you'll be fine."

Larry gave Raya a light hug. "See you in March."

* * *

"Hey, Larry!" Raya said over the phone as she sat in her dorm room.

"Hey, Raya! How's school going?"

"It's pretty difficult this semester, but I'm pushing through. I wanted to let you know that next Friday, I'll be coming back to work for a week since I'll be on Spring Break!"

"Wow, already? I can't believe it's already been two and half months."

"Yeah. So you can tell everyone that I'll be back soon. I'm so excited to see them all again!"

"They are too. They all keep asking me about you. You have got to start giving me updates more frequently or these guys are going to go nuts."

Raya laughed. "Well, they'll get to hear all about it when I get back. I'll see you soon!"

As soon as Raya's last class ended on Friday, she took a short nap in her dorm while almost the rest of the entire campus went home for break. When she awoke, she ate a power bar and left to go to the museum.

"It is good to be back!" she exclaimed as she stuffed her things into her locker after changing into her uniform.

"It'll be good to relax a bit for the next week," Larry sighed. "I didn't realize how hard this job could get without the intern."

"I'm sure you've been fine. I mean, you've had Teddy, Sakagawea, and Ahkmenrah to help you keep things in line."

"Maybe so, but it'll be nice to have a companion who doesn't stop in the middle of a conversation because the sun came up."

"Did that really happen?"

"You'd be surprised how often someone's telling me a story and just when they're getting to the good part, they freeze."

"Well that sounds frustrating."

"Dad, I'm here!" Nicky called out as he came into the locker room.

"Hey, Nicky," Raya smiled. "Wait, have you been coming here every night?"

"No, just when I'm staying at Dad's. And some other days when he lets me."

"Hey," Larry said to Raya. "It's about sundown."

Raya smiled broadly as they all left the locker room and headed out to the lobby just as Rexy began to move.

"Hey, boy!" Raya said to the skeleton. Rexy began wagging his tail furiously as he came up to Raya and bent down so his head was in front of hers. She started rubbing his nose. "How you been? I've missed you!"

"Raya Daniels!"

Raya looked over to find Teddy atop his horse.

"Hiya, Teddy! How have things been going with Sakagawea?"

"Could not be more pleasant! She is a fine woman indeed!"

As if on cue, Sakagawea appeared in the lobby. "Hello, Raya," she said with a kind smile. "Lovely to see you again."

A loud shout sounded out behind Raya, and she barely had time to turn around before Attila scooped her up in a big bear hug.

"Attila," she gasped. "Attila, I can't breathe." Attila put her down again. "I've missed you too, big guy."

She hit him on the chest as he laughed.

"Hey, Gigantess!"

Raya looked down to see her two favorite miniatures in the remote-control car.

"Hi, Jed. Octavius."

"It is wonderful to have you back, my liege," Octavius said to her.

Raya laughed and then turned around to see Ahkmenrah walking into the lobby. She smiled just a little more and walked over to him.

"Hello again, Raya," Ahkmenrah said formally.

Raya smiled and hugged the pharaoh. "It's great to see you."

"And you as well."

As the night progressed on, Raya had forgotten just how much she enjoyed spending time at the museum and talking with Ahkmenrah. She told him all about the past couple of months at NYU and all the frustrations her schoolwork presented.

"I still haven't chosen a major. My mom reminds me almost every day to hurry up and pick one, too. I just can't decide. I need something that I like, but also that will pay well once I graduate."

"You said you like to write."

"Yeah, but I don't think that's going to pay the student loans. Ugh, this is so frustrating!"

"I think you need to just do what you love."

"I wish it were that simple."

* * *

Once the semester ended, Raya was able to return to the museum and work for the next three months during her summer break.

One night, she greeted Ahkmenrah with a movie in her hand.

"Come on," she smiled. "We're going to have our own movie night."

"What about the rest of the museum?"

"If there's an emergency, Larry will call for me, we'll hit the pause button, I'll sort everything out, and then we'll get back to it."

She took his hand and led him down to the locker room where there was a couch and a small TV all ready for them.

"Have you ever even seen a movie before?" Raya asked.

"I do not think I have."

"Well, this is the perfect one to start with. It's a classic."

"What is it called?"

" _The Princess Bride_."

"I think I may have heard of that before."

"It wouldn't surprise me. Everyone knows this movie."

Ahkmenrah narrowed his eyes a little.

"Well, everyone who's living."

Raya put the movie into the DVD player. Then she and Ahkmenrah sat down on the couch together as the movie started.

"That little boy reminds me of Nick," Ahkmenrah commented.

"Huh," Raya said. "I guess he does."

As the movie went on, Raya saw Ahkmenrah get more into the action than she expected. She loved to hear him laugh at the more comical lines, especially the part where the clergyman gave his bumbling incoherent speech about 'mawwaige'. It was rare to see such a pure and beautiful smile on him. He was weighed down, she could tell that much. After all, he was the only one in the museum who used to be an actual human being. Everything else was just made of wax. He was real. And she could only imagine how much that haunted his thoughts. But every now and again, in a moment like this, all the weight was forgotten and he was happy.

"That was much better than I expected," Ahkmenrah said once the movie was over.

"I had a feeling you would like it. It's impossible not to like _The Princess Bride_."

For hours, Raya talked about other movies she wanted to show him over the course of the summer and other various subjects. Soon, sunrise was nearly upon them.

The two of them quickly went back up to Ahkmenrah's tomb before Raya had to deal with returning a mummy to its sarcophagus. She would force Larry to take care of that if that ever happened.

"Thank you for showing me a movie," Ahkmenrah said to her. "I hope to see more of the ones you were talking about."

"I'm sure we'll watch plenty over the next few months."

"It is so wonderful to have you back with us for the summer."

"I'm glad to be back. I like spending time with you. You're a really good listener. I hope I don't talk your ear off."

"Of course not. I like listening to you."

Raya smiled. "Thanks. Shall I see you tomorrow night then?"

"As you wish."

Raya gasped lightly as the sun rose and he stilled in his sarcophagus. Did he just say those words on purpose? Did he realize what he had said? Surely it was just something he said a lot. He couldn't possibly mean what she thought he meant.

* * *

 **For those of you who aren't familiar with _The Princess Bride_ , in the movie, the main character says "As you wish" when he really means "I love you". **


	12. Summer Fun

"Come on, Larry!"

"No."

"I'll have him back before sunrise. Before midnight even! I mean, the place closes at 11 anyway!"

"If Dr. McPhee found out…"

"Dr. McPhee doesn't even know the museum comes to life at night. How would he possibly find out about this? Come on, it's just for one night! I promise I won't let anything happen to him."

Larry looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "You get him back before midnight."

Raya squealed and practically tackled him. "Yes! Thank you, Larry!"

"If anything goes wrong, we're both in trouble!" he called after her as she sprinted to Ahkmenrah's tomb.

She waited for the sun to set and finally, Ahkmenrah woke up.

"Hey!" she smiled broadly. "Come on! We're going out tonight!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked as she took his hand and pulled him downstairs. "You mean…leave the museum?"

"Yes! I got Larry's permission, so I'm taking you somewhere close by. I promise you'll be back by sunrise. In fact, I promised Larry I'd have you back by midnight. Which is a bit backwards."

"What do you mean?"

"Normally, when a guy and a girl go out, it's the guy who's promising to have the girl back by midnight, not the other way around. Now, come on. We'll go out the back so none of the other exhibits see us."

Once they were in the locker room, Raya handed him a new set of clothes.

"Here, put these on. Where we're going, you certainly can't wear all of that."

Ahkmenrah hesitantly took the clothes from her and left to change into them. When he came back out, Raya smiled a little. While she had to admit that it was strange to see him in something other than his normal Egyptian attire, he didn't look too bad in modern clothing. She had given him a pair of jeans, a white shirt with a blue button-up that he had left unbuttoned, and a pair of sneakers.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked her. "Do I have to wear this for long?"

Raya laughed lightly. "No, just until midnight. Then you can change back into what you usually wear. Now, come on!"

They exited out of the door in the loading dock and headed down the sidewalk.

"I have only ever been outside once in nearly 4,000 years," Ahkmenrah remarked. "It is so nice out here. Much nicer since we are not trying to recover my tablet from a corrupt night guard."

Raya laughed again. "It's about to get even better."

She led him to a blocked off area of New York where the fair had stopped by for a few days. There were games, carnival food, and a couple of really cool rides to go on.

"What is this?" Ahkmenrah asked her in awe.

"It's a fair. I thought I would bring you. We only have a couple hours since it closes at 11, but it'll be fun."

Raya paid for several tickets for both of them. Then she led him to the giant swings. She gave the attendant the appropriate number of tickets and then went through the gates to find seats. After helping Ahkmenrah figure out how to get himself chained in, she sat in the seat in front of him.

The ride started up and all of the riders were lifted into the air and spun around in a circle. Raya looked behind her with a broad smile on her face to see Ahkmenrah laughing with pleasure.

The ride ended and they were all placed back down on the ground.

"That was one of the most wonderful experiences I have ever had," Ahkmenrah said to her.

"Well, the night isn't over yet. We still have more stuff to do. Come on."

She then led him over to a very high tower that would take them up and then drop them all the way down.

"Are you sure this is safe?" he asked.

"I'm sure."

They got into two of the seats and Raya helped him get buckled in safely. The ride operator came by and checked all of the seats before going over and starting up the ride. The two of them were lifted higher and higher and higher into the air.

"I think I can see the museum from here!" Ahkmenrah yelled to her.

"I'll take your word for it!"

"Can you not see it?"

"I don't do heights!"

"Then why did you get on this contraption?"

Suddenly, the ride fell down to the ground again so fast that neither of the passengers could even let out a good scream.

"That's why!" Raya laughed as they got off.

"If I still had a stomach, I think I might have lost it on there."

Raya shook her head, still getting used to the fact that despite how it looked, Ahkmenrah wasn't really alive.

"Well, now that you say that, can you even eat?"

"Surprisingly, yes."

Raya smiled. "In that case, come on. I'm going to give you the best thing you've ever eaten." She went to one of the stands and paid for a funnel cake loaded with powdered sugar. "Okay, if you don't like this, I don't think we can be friends anymore."

"Is this stuff really that good?"

"See for yourself."

She broke off part of the dessert and handed it to him. He ate it, and she watched as his face transformed.

"This may be the most delicious thing I have ever consumed."

"It's good, right?"

As they continued to eat the funnel cake, Raya put some of the powdered sugar on her finger and then rubbed it onto Ahkmenrah's cheek.

Ahkmenrah's mouth dropped open a bit, and he retaliated by putting some powdered sugar on her nose.

They both laughed together as Raya threw away their plate and they wiped the sugar off their faces. They walked around for a little while to let the food settle before doing anything else crazy.

"What are these tents for?" Ahkmenrah asked.

"They're for the games. I wouldn't recommend playing them though. They're all fixed so it's impossible to win."

"That does not seem fair."

"It's not. That's why I don't play them."

"Could I try my hand at one of them?"

"I guess so. Which one do you want to try?"

He pointed to the Ring Toss stand. "How about that one?"

"Okay. Give it your best shot."

She paid the man working the stand and the man gave Ahkmenrah five rings. "Okay," the man said. "You just gotta toss the ring onto two bottles for a big prize or one for a small prize."

Ahkmenrah attempted to aim where he threw the rings, but he didn't make a single bottle.

"It's okay," Raya said as they walked away. "I told you, they're all rigged."

"What about that one?" He pointed over to a rope ladder climb.

"It's really hard, but you can try it."

"I am sure I will have better luck this time."

Once Raya paid, Ahkmenrah positioned himself at the bottom of the ladder and began to climb it. It flipped over on him, but he managed to hang on.

"You can do it!" Raya yelled. "You're almost there!"

Using all of his strength, Ahkmenrah managed to climb up the ladder upside down and rang the bell at the end.

"Congratulations!" the attendant smiled. "Which prize would you like?"

Ahkmenrah pointed to a small stuffed panda. The attendant took it down and handed it to him.

"For you," Ahkmenrah said as he gave the toy to Raya.

"You're too kind. Come on, there's one more thing you need to go on."

Raya took him to the Trade Wind. They sat in one of the seats together, and after getting the seat checked, the ride started up. The seats went around the track in a small circle at a very fast rate. It didn't take long for Raya to get mashed up against Ahkmenrah who was practically one with the seat.

Raya started laughing so hard, her stomach began to ache. She looked over and found Ahkmenrah laughing as well, nothing but pure bliss on his face.

The ride slowed and came to a stop. They both thought it was over until it began to go backwards and the whole thing started all over again.

The two of them were still laughing when they got off the ride.

"That one was my favorite," Ahkmenrah said.

"Mine too. Come on, let's get some cotton candy."

"What is that?"

"You'll see."

Raya paid for some pink cotton candy and made Ahkmenrah hold the stick. She took some off the whole thing and put it to her mouth.

"Try some," she said.

Ahkmenrah took off a bit as well and ate it. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he looked at her. "It disappeared!"

Raya laughed and she took some more. "Come on, we should head back."

They walked back to the museum slowly, still eating their cotton candy, laughing along the way.

"Raya, is it not I who is supposed to pay for everything?"

"It's not like it was a date," Raya answered.

"What is a date?"

"It's when a guy and a girl, usually who are an official couple, go out and do something together. Most of the time, the guy is the one who pays for everything. But like I said, it wasn't a date. It was just two friends hanging out."

"Oh, I see."

The two of them made it back to the museum unharmed much to Larry's relief. Ahkmenrah quickly changed back into his Egyptian robes almost as soon as he stepped inside.

Once sunrise began approaching, he made his way back to his sarcophagus.

"Raya, this was the best night I have ever had," Ahkmenrah said. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you had fun."

"It was more than fun. I have never had such a good time even when I was alive."

"Well, they didn't really have this kind of entertainment in Ancient Egypt."

"Fair point."

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Have a good sleep."

"Thank you, Raya. I look forward to our next meeting."

Raya sighed as the life in the museum stilled once more. Try as she might, she couldn't get the smile off her face as she walked back to her dorm room absolutely beaming.

* * *

Raya screamed in frustration as her hair fell back into place for the umpteenth time. The stupid mirror hanging up in the hallway was not helping one bit.

"What is the problem?" Ahkmenrah asked her.

"I wanted to get my hair out of my face, so I thought I would braid it, but do you have any idea how hard it is to braid something you can't see?"

"I have a little experience with braiding. Would you like me to help you?"

Raya paused and then smiled a little. "Sure. Okay, go for it."

She turned around and Ahkmenrah began to braid her hair for her. She felt a shiver course through her body as she felt his fingertips lightly graze across her scalp.

"Do you have something to tie this with?"

She handed him her single hair tie around her wrist and he finished up what he was doing. His hands traveled down and gently brushed against her shoulders.

"You are quite tense."

"Yeah, I'm just under a lot of pressure," Raya lied. She wasn't about to tell him that she was tense because of what he had just been doing. "Still trying to decide on a major. And I have to decide by the end of this week."

"May I?"

Raya lightly nodded, not knowing exactly what he was going to do. His hands touched her shoulders and he lightly began to massage them. Her eyes closed as she felt all of the tension in her shoulders begin to decrease.

Raya turned around and met Ahkmenrah's eyes. She had never really realized how beautiful they were. She felt herself get lost in them for a few moments.

"Hey, Raya, I need—"

Raya looked over and saw Larry walking up to her.

"Whoa, uh, am I, uh, interrupting something?"

"No!" Raya said quickly. "Nope. Uh, nothing. What do you need?"

"Um, some of the miniatures are fighting again. We need to go sort it out."

"Sure thing. Uh, let's go."

Raya could not understand what had just happened to her.

* * *

It didn't take long for the summer to end. Which meant that Raya's internship had come to a conclusion as well.

She had the unfortunate task of telling the exhibits that it was her last night. For good this time.

"Must you leave us again?" Ahkmenrah asked.

"This was always the plan. After all, this was just an internship, not a real job. I'm going to try to stop by some nights if I can, but with Larry quitting now and starting his own company, I don't know how often I'll be able to come. From what I heard, Dr. McPhee isn't hiring another night guard. He's going to put some technology around the museum to monitor what happens inside. Which means you guys have to be extra careful."

"How am I supposed to be here without you?"

"You'll manage. You've managed without me for 4,000 years."

"I suppose so."

"You'll be fine, Ahkmenrah. I left some movies in the locker room, so you can watch those anytime you want."

"It will not be the same without you."

"But it's better than nothing."

Ahkmenrah placed his hand on Raya's neck and brushed his thumb against her cheek. "I shall miss you, Raya."

"I'll miss you too."

Raya quickly took off outside the tomb and down to the locker room, unwilling to look at his hurt expression any longer.


	13. Memory Lane

Around two years passed, and Larry and Raya ended up going their separate ways. Larry started his new company, Daley Devices, while Raya was in the middle of her junior year of college. Rebecca's dissertation was so well-received that she got it turned into a book and was now touring with it.

Raya had visited the museum several times after her internship ended, but as she continued through school, her visits became less and less frequent until she was lucky to go once every few months.

She and Larry had gotten coffee together a few times, but for the most part, he was busy with his company and she was busy with school. They both just started to lead extremely different lives. While she always expected that to happen, she would be lying if she didn't admit that every now and again when she had time to think about it, she was a little disappointed they had grown so far apart. And deep down, she really did miss all of the exhibits. Especially Ahkmenrah. She would constantly find herself daydreaming during class or as she walked around campus about the time they had spent together.

Raya walked into her apartment after classes were over for the day and turned on the TV before heading to the kitchen area to make a quick snack for herself.

"What if this was your house?" an announcer said as a man on the TV ran through a dark house. "Power's out. Lights are dead. Your little ones in their bunk bed down the hall, crying out—"

"Mommy! Daddy! Come quick! I'm scared!" little girls' voices rang out in the background.

"You need to get there and fast."

"Coming, honey!" the man yelled as he ran into pieces of furniture. "Daddy's coming!"

"You'll need a weapon. But first, you'll need a flashlight. But you're in the dark! What are you gonna do? How are you gonna find it? I'll tell you how."

"The Glow-in-the-Dark Flashlight! That's right, folks! I'm Larry Daley of Daley Devices."

Raya's head snapped over to the TV to find her old co-worker showing off his latest invention.

"And we're gonna spend the next paid-programming block rocking your world. And I brought along a friend to do it. George Foreman, ladies and gentlemen!"

Larry walked over to where George Foreman was standing in front of two chairs with the Daley Devices logo behind them.

"Fantastic, Larry, fantastic!" George praised. "Isn't he fantastic, America?" The studio audience cheered for the men as the two of them sat down in the chairs. "But, seriously, isn't it true that just two years ago, you were working as a night guard at some dusty museum?"

Raya rolled her eyes. "It just so happened to be the best job in the world, Mr. Foreman," she said to the TV. "Not that you'd know anything about that."

"That is true, two-time world heavyweight champ George Foreman," Larry smiled. "I was just a regular Joe with a flashlight and a dream."

"You mean a regular Larry," George said.

The studio audience began laughing as Larry laughed way over the top. Raya smiled and shook her head as she came over to sit down in front of the television with a sandwich she had made for herself.

"But what's no joke is you're CEO of Daley Devices, creator of such indispensable items as the Super Big Dog Bone!"

"You like that one?"

"The Unloseable Key Ring!"

"Oh, yeah, that little chestnut!"

"And now your latest breakthrough—Say it with me, America!"

"The Glow-in-the-Dark Flashlight!" the studio audience yelled.

Raya rolled her eyes again and changed the channel. That was enough of that.

She quickly finished her sandwich and changed into her black and white dress with her black high heels. Then she fixed up her hair so that thick curls bounced against her back when she walked.

Taking a deep breath, she called a taxi and headed to her old job to see what had since become of the place.

"Larry?" she called as she pulled up.

The former night guard turned around at the sound of his name. "Raya?"

"What are you doing here?" she said as she hugged him.

"I could ask the same of you."

"Just saw one of your infomercials. Kind of made me take a trip down Memory Lane."

The two of them entered in through the doors and found with disappointment that various boxes were all over the place and the whole of the museum was under construction.

"Hello! Excuse me! Unauthorized personnel!" Dr. McPhee called out. He stopped when he realized just who exactly had come through the doors. "Oh, well, if it isn't our very own Mr. Success Story and Miss Just Here For School. Come for one of your nostalgia tours? I haven't seen either of you for a few months."

"Yeah, we've been busy," Larry told him. "What's…what's going on here?"

"Progress…so they tell me. The future. Behold, Natural History, version 2.0."

Dr. McPhee turned on a machine and a hologram of Teddy Roosevelt appeared.

"Welcome to The Museum of Natural History, where history comes to life!" the hologram boomed. "Step up, ask your question. Then let the next little boy or girl have their turn."

"Okay," Larry said hesitantly. "Um…where were you born?"

"Right here in New York City, on Twentieth Street. October 27th, the year of our Lord 1858."

Dr. McPhee turned the machine back off. "Blah, blah, blah. History, history. Learning, learning. Changing America, one child at a time."

"That's great," Larry said. "So you're—you're adding some new interactive exhibits?"

"No, Mr. Daley, not adding. Replacing the old exhibits."

"Where are they going?"

"Away. We're getting rid of all this junk. The dioramas, the waxworks, even some of the shabbier animals, like this scrawny little monkey." He took Dexter out of one of the boxes.

"You should be careful. He's a capuchin."

"It's a monkey."

"He's a rare breed. He's a capuchin. He's not just a monkey."

"'Monkey', then. I said 'monkey'. Why be specific? When you're throwing away a monkey, you don't need the Latin name."

"Are you throwing him away or are you moving him?"

"What are you, the Primate Garbage Police? Let it go, baby."

"Whose idea was this?" Larry asked as Dr. McPhee began to walk out.

"Me, of course. I'm in charge. Me and the board. Mainly the board."

"You can't do this," Raya said firmly to him.

"Why do either of you care?"

"No, it's just that people love this stuff," Larry tried to explain.

Dr. McPhee scoffed. "People, Mr. Daley, love 'What's next?' You should know that. You left. Both of you did."

"Our situations changed. Raya had school, my business took off—"

"Yeah, you became a success. So would I, if I was a night guard."

"So where are these guys going?"

"Deep storage. Federal Archives."

"Where's that?"

"Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian."

"There's got to be something that we can do."

"It's done! They leave tomorrow morning. It's over."

Dr. McPhee left the museum dejectedly.

Raya looked over at Larry. "They can't just get rid of everyone. They're all our friends. I mean, I know we haven't seen them in a while, but…"

Rexy came to life and leaned down next to the former night guards.

"Hey. Hey, buddy, how you doing, huh?" Larry said gently as he rubbed his head. "How you doing with all this?"

"Hey, Rexy," Raya smiled. "I've missed you."

Rexy went for Larry's bag. "You want what's in here? You think I got something for you? You think I got…a little rope?" Larry pulled a long rope out of the bag and Rexy snatched one end in his mouth. He and Larry began to have a tug-of-war. "Think you're stronger than me, huh? Is that all you got, huh?"

Raya laughed as Rexy flung Larry up in the air, and he landed on a pile of blankets.

"Well, that was lucky for you!" she said to him.

All of the exhibits suddenly began popping out of their crates as Styrofoam pieces went flying.

"Lawrence! Raya!" Teddy called as he approached them on his horse. "Good to see you both!"

"Yeah, you too, Teddy," Larry said.

"The Guardians of Brooklyn have returned!"

"Hey, Ahk."

Raya turned and felt her stomach flip a little at the sight of the pharaoh she hadn't seen for longer than she cared to admit. "Hello, Ahkmenrah."

"Hello, Raya," Ahkmenrah said with a small nod.

There was a bit of awkward silence amongst the exhibits at the thick tension in the room.

"Hey, look, McPhee told us what's going on around here," Larry finally said, breaking the silence. "We had no idea."

"Indeed," Teddy said. "A lot has transpired, Lawrence, since your last visit. One would say that—"

He was cut off as Larry's cell phone beeped. Larry held up his index finger and took it out of his pocket to send a quick reply text.

"Cricket."

"Hey, Bocephus! Little help over here!"

Larry and Raya looked at one of the boxes with the lid shaking. The two of them went over and removed the lid to reveal all the miniatures.

"Hey. Hey, fellas. How you doing?" Larry asked.

"Well, lookee here," Jedediah said as he and Octavius stood on the edge of the box. "If it ain't Mr. Big-in-the-Britches and Miss Here-for-the-Internship themselves, come back just in time to see us off!"

"Yeah, Jed, we heard. Look, we don't even know how this happened." He took out his phone as it began to buzz again.

"Yeah. Yeah, real mystery how this happened. Maybe the answer's on that magic buzzin' box there in your hand! Neither of you were here, Gigantor! That's how it happened! Ain't no mystery!"

"The fact is, Larry, there's no one else here to speak on our behalf during business hours," Octavius told them.

"None, none, dum-dums," the Easter Island head boomed.

The Neanderthals started grunting in agreement.

"Hey, hey, guys! It's okay!" Larry insisted. "I'll call the board in the morning, all right? I got some pull now. I'll handle this." He turned back to Jedediah. "We're gonna be okay here."

"'We'?" Jedediah said in disbelief. "Did you hear that? You hear Daydream Johnny? There ain't been a 'we' ever since you both put us on the 'pay no mind' list. And that's a cold place to be, boy."

"That's not fair, Jed," Raya told the small cowboy. "You know I had school. And ever since I decided to study pre-law, you would not believe the amount of homework I have to do and the amount of seminars I have to attend. And this was never a permanent job for me anyway. You all knew that."

"Why you dressed all fancyish anyway?"

"Business dinner. My mom has been making go to one almost every week to meet with some of her lawyer friends. It's two and a half hours of boredom."

"Larry, Raya, what's done is done," Octavius said. He looked off into the distance. "Even the glory of Rome had to come to an end."

"Would you please not look dramatically off into the middle distance when you say that?" Larry asked. "It makes us feel worse."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Octavius told them as he continued to look off in the distance.

"Where are you looking? Where are you looking? We're over here."

"Just a bit of wall…"

"Look, guys, maybe it won't be so bad."

Attila said something to him in his native language angrily.

"Yes, you make a good point. But this is the Smithsonian we're talking about here."

Dexter chittered loudly.

"Dexter, you don't know that."

"You're missin' the point, Gigantor!" Jedediah yelled. "They're shippin' us out!"

"Larry, I know you're trying to make us feel better," Octavius said. "I can see that you're both genuinely slightly bothered, but it's never going to be the same. All of us here, together, in this place."

"It ain't never gonna be home, boy."

"Jedediah, please!" Teddy gently berated. "Lawrence, Raya, these are emotional times for all of us. But it is our last night as a family, and I don't want to see it squandered in self-pity. So who will join me for one final stroll through these hallowed halls?"

All of the exhibits began to roam the museum halls one last time.

Raya slowly made her way over to Ahkmenrah. "Hi."

"Hello."

"It's been a while."

"Yes, it has."

"Shall we walk?

Ahkmenrah held out his arm for her, but Raya just walked ahead and refused to take it. They walked through the halls together, just like old times, until they were near his tomb again.

"I have missed seeing you," Ahkmenrah said to Raya.

"Me too…"

"I am afraid that…my tablet and myself will be staying here."

"Wait, so that means…everyone who's leaving…it's their last night?"

"I am afraid so."

"Do they know?"

"Why make things harder than they already are?"

Raya sighed heavily. She hadn't thought about her friends not being able to come alive anymore. She began to regret all the time she hadn't come to the museum to see them.

"Raya, you said you have decided to study pre-law."

"Yes, that's right."

"Well…do you even like it?"

"Of course I do. And it will pay well once I graduate, so I can afford a nice house and pay off all my student loans."

"But you do not seem happy. You always seem to be upset about everything you have to do and these dinners you dress up for."

"This is what I chose, Ahkmenrah."

"While I do admit that you look beautiful in that dress, I much prefer seeing you in jeans and a shirt."

"Why?"

"Because when you are dressed in those, your smile reaches your eyes."

Raya felt her stomach flip a little for reasons she couldn't fully explain to herself. She looked at Ahkmenrah's wishful expression. "I…I have to go."

She quickly ran out of the tomb and out of the museum. The chilly air hit her face and she welcomed the relief it brought with it.

She hailed a cab and drove to the restaurant where she was meeting with some lawyers, trying to forget about the look on Ahkmenrah's face.


	14. Brundon

Raya walked into her apartment after yet another business dinner with even more lawyers. If she had to sit through one more meal where they all compared how rich they were and the latest cases they had won, she was going to scream. Her mother was not helping and kept trying to get Raya to go out with several of the lawyers she met with.

As she set her purse down on the counter, she was thankful that she and her roommate had completely different schedules. It was almost like she lived alone since they never saw each other.

She was just about to change out of her yellow sleeveless sun dress when her phone started buzzing. She frowned when she didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"My liege?"

"Octavius?! Wait, why are you alive? How did you dial the phone? How do you even know my number?"

"I'm afraid explanations will have to wait, my lady. The troublemaking simian stole the tablet from the museum, and now we are all in trouble!"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's Kahmunrah!"

"Who's Kahmunrah?"

"Ahkmenrah's elder sibling!"

"Ahkmenrah has a _brother_? How long has he had a brother?"

"I suspect his whole life. He is nothing like him either. He's…he's attacking!"

"Wait, Octavius, what's going on over there?"

Loud commotion and screams and yells rang out over the other end of the phone.

"Octavius? Hello? Hello?!"

Raya's phone beeped as the call abruptly ended. She looked down and stared at the phone for a second. Then she grabbed her purse and bolted out the door. Hailing a cab, she rode to Larry's apartment. She quickly ran up the stairs and knocked on his door. Larry answered it with his phone in his hand.

"You get a call too?" he asked her.

"Yeah, Octavius called me."

"Jedediah just called me."

They looked at each other for a few moments before Raya said, "We gotta go."

"Hold it, don't you have class tomorrow?"

"I'm a straight-A student. I can afford to miss one day of classes. Besides, this is way more important."

Larry started ushering Nicky to the door. "Here, come on. Gonna drop you off at your mom's."

"What's going on, Dad?" Nicky asked.

"We're gonna go find out."

Larry and Raya dropped Nicky back off at his mother's house and then headed to the airport.

"Hey, Raya, I'll cover your ticket," Larry said.

"No, Larry, I can't let you do that."

"You're a college student. You need every penny you can get. Besides, I have the money, okay? No more arguments."

Raya held her hands up in surrender. Larry quickly paid for two tickets for the quickest flight to Washington D.C. Luckily for them, a plane was leaving soon giving them just enough time to get checked in and boarded.

Both of them slept on the flight, however short it was, knowing that sleep would not be coming to them for quite a while.

They landed in D.C. really early in the morning just as the sun was starting to rise.

"Okay, buddy," Larry said to Nicky on the phone.

"Put it on speaker," Raya ordered.

He pressed a button on the phone then held it between them as they quickly walked out of the airport. "McPhee said the Federal Archives are in the Smithsonian. Where exactly are we going?"

"That's the thing, Dad," Nicky said. "The Smithsonian is actually 19 different museums. They're laid out around the National Mall, from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial. They got everything there. There's actually some really cool stuff."

"Nicky, please focus. Which museum are the Archives in?"

"Not in, under. It looks like it runs underneath the entire Smithsonian."

"So if Ahkmenrah's tablet is down there—"

"The biggest museum in the world is coming alive. What is exactly is your plan here, Dad?"

"Don't worry about it."

"You have no plan, do you?"

"Now, Nicholas, I have a very good, highly thought-out plan."

"You have no plan."

"Yes, I have no plan. I'll call you when we're in."

"In our defense," Raya smiled, "we usually do pretty good with no plan."

"Let's just somehow get down to the Archives, find the tablet, and flip the center piece before sundown."

Larry and Raya hailed a cab and rode over to the Air and Space Museum, trying to find someone who could direct them to the Archives.

They walked around for a little while until Larry found a tour guide. "Hi, excuse me. Could you tell us how to get to the Federal Archives?"

"Of course," the tour guide smiled. "Just be a historical document worthy of storing for all eternity." She started laughing at her joke. "I'm kidding. He's not a document. I'm sorry, sir, the Archives are underground, and they're a secure area."

"Really? Like, totally secure? Okay, thank you."

Larry took off again to do some more searching. He stopped when he passed a monkey in a space shuttle who looked a lot like Dexter.

"Keep it moving," Raya said as she pushed him along.

The two of them walked past the Washington Monument to the Washington Art Museum. They walked all along those halls as well but found nothing that would get them to where the Archives were.

They then headed over to the Smithsonian Castle. There at the end of the building was a piece of stone with Egyptian carved into it. The inscription next to it read, 'THE GATE OF KAHMUNRAH: Mythic Door to the Underworld'.

"Kahmunrah," Larry muttered.

They went closer to the gate and looked at the engraving.

"That looks like a place for the tablet," Raya said quietly.

"Hey!" Larry and Raya turned to find one of the Smithsonian guards coming over to them. "What are you guys doing? No touching."

"No, no, we weren't gonna touch it," Larry told the guard.

"You're both moving in with some I.T.T., bro."

"I.T.T.?"

"That's 'Intent to Touch', homie."

"No, no, we weren't. You're not allowed to go over the—"

"What, are you gonna kiss it?"

"All right, sorry."

"Put your hand on it and touch it. 'Cause I stand there and I wait all day for a little girl like you to come in and put her precious nail-polished nails all over the exhibits."

"Sorry. Last time I checked, I thought we lived in a free country, so…"

"No, we don't."

"No?"

"It's the United States of Don't Touch That Thing Right in Front of You."

"We just want to—we're allowed to look at it here, okay?"

"See what happens when you touch it!"

"So you're threatening us?" Larry looked at his nametag. "You're threatening us, Brandon?"

"It's 'Brundon'," the guard said quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"'Brundon'!"

"Brundon."

"Brundon!"

"Brundon. What, did they run out of U's on your nameplate maker?"

"I don't know, did they run out of jokes at the interesting-joke store that you shop at?"

"Sorry, it looks like 'Brandon', but…"

"I'm not here to be your speech therapist. It's 'Brundon'!"

"Brundon. Okay…"

"You never heard of the name before?"

"Brundon? No. Have you?" Larry asked Raya.

"Nope," she answered. "That's a new one."

"Look up most popular baby names in 1984," the guard said to them really losing his patience. "Brundon."

"Okay. Are you threatening us, Brundon?"

"I don't know, Princess Jasmine. Am I?" He moved his jacket to reveal his flashlight where most people would put a gun.

"Oh, wow. Lunabeam nine-volt."

"Yeah."

"Wonderful piece of hardware, huh?"

"That's their title, Lunabeam Nine."

"Great. I prefer the Maglite LED myself, but that's just me."

"Really?" Raya asked. "You seemed more like a Voyager person to me. It's what I like."

"Do me a huge favor," Brundon said to them.

"What?" Larry asked.

"Shove your hands into your pockets, put your attitudes way down, and, also, be nice to people." Brundon started to walk away.

"Great. But could I just ask you one thing?"

"Yeah," Brundon answered as he turned around.

"Okay, so just to be clear, so, we can't do this, right?" Larry asked as he and Raya put their palms where the tablet was supposed to go.

Brundon took out his flashlight and began storming over to them again. "Okay, that's actually crazy. Did you two just make a decision to possibly end your lives earlier than you were expecting? I'm gonna hit you with the flashlight."

"Now you are threatening us. Okay."

"Do not touch it!" Brundon ordered as he hit Larry on the chest with his flashlight.

"Don't touch me."

"Do not touch it!"

"Do not touch me!"

"Don't touch it! I'll touch you with my flashlight all day."

"No, your flashlight is meant to illuminate."

"I will literally—I will literally rent a camper, and we will drive across America with my flashlight on your chest."

Raya looked at Larry with a 'Did-he-really-just-say-that?' look.

"Don't do that," Larry said as Brundon hit his chest with his flashlight again.

"Don't do what?"

"Don't do that."

"Want to see what happens when I do it one more time?"

"Let's see what happens."

"Watch you do nothing. Let's watch you do nothing when I do this."

Brundon went to hit Larry with his flashlight again, but quick as lightning, Larry snatched his arm and bent it up so that his flashlight was pressed against the other side of his neck. Brundon looked to Raya for help, but she just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Seriously, Brandon—" Larry whispered.

"Brundon."

"Brundon. You do not know who you're dealing with. You think you know what it means to be a guard, huh? Trust me, you don't know the meaning of the word. We have seen things that you could not imagine."

"Like what kind of stuff?"

"I'm not gonna tell you. But you're gonna drop the flashlight—"

"The way you said it, it sounded like you were gonna say something cool."

"Yeah, well, you don't get to hear it. Drop the flashlight."

Larry released Brundon with his flashlight in his hand. Then he undid the bottom and the batteries fell to the floor. He did some impressive flips with the tool before handing it back to Brundon.

"We cool?" Larry asked.

"That's actually pretty cool, what you just did."

"Thank you. No hard feelings?" He held his hand out and Brundon shook it before giving him a 'bro' hug.

"All right? Sorry."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's my fault. I shouldn't have—"

"No. It takes two opposing forces to cause friction, and…"

"And you're just doing your job, all right. Take it easy, man."

"Yeah!"

As Larry and Raya walked away from the guard, Larry took out the ID badge he had swiped off Brundon during the 'bro' hug.

Raya smiled broadly. "That was brilliant," she remarked.

"Thank you."


	15. Kahmunrah

Larry went over to the security doors and swiped the badge in the card reader. The doors unlocked and they both walked through. They made their way down the hall when two other guards started walking towards them from the other end. Larry quickly pulled Raya into the locker room with him.

He looked around and found some spare uniforms hanging up in one of the lockers.

"Here, we'll change into these."

"Um, do you not see how big these are? There's no way any of those will fit me. It will never be believable, and I'll be tripping over myself every three steps. I have a better idea."

Once Larry changed into the uniform, Raya held out her arm. He roughly took it in his hand and pulled her out of the room. One of the guards passed by them and looked at Raya.

"Come on, young lady!" Larry yelled. "I'm tired of catching you guys making out back here!"

"You're such a killjoy!" Raya pouted like an immature teenager.

Once the guard had disappeared, Larry released Raya's arm.

"Nicely done," she smiled.

"You too." Larry pulled out his cell phone and called Nicky. Again, he put the phone on speaker so Raya could hear. "Okay, buddy, we're in."

"Great," Nicky said on the other end. "Where are you?"

"The northeast corridor of the Castle, just off the Commons. I need you to talk us to the Archives."

"Okay. At the end of the hall, turn right, and there should be a stairwell coming up on your left."

Once they got to the end of the hallway, they both headed towards the stairs. "Got it."

"Now, it's kind of a maze down there. Those underground tunnels connect a bunch of different buildings. It could get complicated."

Larry looked at his watch. "We'd better hurry. We only got 28 minutes till sundown."

"When you get down to B level, you want to take another left—"

The two of them got too low and Nicky cut off as they lost service.

"Nick? Hello? Nick?" Larry went back up the stairs to try to get him back.

"Dad! Can you hear—"

"Nick, you're—Nick!"

The door opened at the top of the stairwell and two guards came through. With no other option, Larry quickly hung up the phone, and he and Raya rushed through the door on Level B.

Larry approached a gate that had to be opened by someone else. He looked over and saw a buzzer and a camera. In order to not let the camera see him and Raya, he put Brundon's ID badge all the way up to the camera and pushed the buzzer.

"ID," someone said on the other end lazily. "Brundon!" he laughed as he saw the ID badge.

"Hey," Larry answered in a poor imitation of Brundon's voice.

"Later, dude!"

"All right. Yeah."

The two of them entered through the gate before the guy on the other end could see that it wasn't actually Brundon. Larry turned on his flashlight and shined it into the darkness of the room.

"All right, where are you guys?" he whispered.

They walked a little further, Raya trying really hard not to let her high heels clack on the hard floor. Larry went over to one of the crates and unlatched it. Instead of their friends, a long octopus tentacle came flying out.

"I bet that was fun when it came to life last night," Raya remarked.

Larry quickly shoved the tentacle back in and latched the box back up.

They walked deeper and deeper into the Archives passing by all sorts of exhibits that had been stowed away for an indefinite amount of time.

Larry then walked through another gate and walked right in on frozen Egyptian soldiers who were all pointing their spears at a half-open crate.

"I think we found Kahmunrah," Raya said as Larry shined his flashlight at the frozen pharaoh. "Oh my gosh, Ahkmenrah is so much cuter than this guy."

Larry looked over at her.

"What?"

He just raised his eyebrows as he went over to the crate. Inside were all of the exhibits from the museum in New York, frozen in various defensive poses with weapons in hand.

Larry shined his flashlight on Dexter who was holding the tablet. "You little troublemaker," he hissed. "We're gonna deal with you later."

He tried to open the door on the crate, but it was too heavy. He looked at his watch again and saw that only a few more seconds remained until sundown.

"We've gotta get that tablet," Raya told him.

Larry flipped the switch to turn on the lights in the room. Then he took one of the Egyptian's spears and squeezed it inside the crate.

He managed to get the tablet into his grasp…just as the sun went down and the tablet began to glow.

"No!" he cried. "No! No, no, no!"

Behind them, Kahmunrah began yelling out things in Egyptian. The Egyptian guards slammed the door closed on the crate and then pointed their spears at Larry and Raya.

Kahmunrah approached them and asked them something in Egyptian. Larry and Raya just looked at each other in confusion. He then asked them something in French, but again, neither of them said anything.

"No, English. English, perhaps," Kahmunrah said.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Larry asked.

"I am Kahmunrah, the great king of the great kings, and from the darkest depths of ancient history, I have come back to life!"

Raya wondered how anyone in Egypt took him seriously with that lisp.

"Uh-huh," Larry nodded.

"Perhaps you did not hear what I just said. I am a centuries-old Egyptian pharaoh. I was dead, but now I have come back to life!"

"Yeah, no. We heard that. We got that. Welcome back."

Kahmunrah looked at them with confusion. "Who—who are you?"

"Larry. Larry Daley. Uh, Daley Devices? It's up in New York. And this is Raya Daniels. She's a law student."

"'Sup?" Raya waved.

"It's funny, we actually—we know your brother, Ahkmenrah."

"Do you?" Kahmunrah asked dryly.

"Yeah."

"They know baby brother. The favorite son."

"Yeah, good kid."

"Isn't he just? You know, Mother and Father always gave him the best of everything, and I do mean everything. They even gave him the throne. The throne which was rightfully mine!"

"Can't imagine why they'd do that," Raya told him.

"I know. It was a huge injustice!"

"Okay, someone doesn't get sarcasm.

"He never mentioned that," Larry said.

"I'll just bet he didn't. Well, now begins the era of Kahmunrah because I have come back to—Never mind, just hand me the tablet."

"Don't give it to him, Gigantor!" Jedediah yelled from inside the crate. "Get out of here, Gigantess!"

Everyone in the crate began yelling and trying to get out.

"Silence!" Kahmunrah ordered. "Silence in there, please! Don't make me come in there!" He banged his hand on the crate to shut them up.

"No! I won't be muzzled!"

Kahmunrah turned back to face them. "Look, that tablet is more powerful than you, Larry Daley of Daley Devices and Raya Daniels the law student, can possibly imagine. Bringing things back to life is just a parlor trick. With it, I shall unlock the Gate to the Underworld and bring forth my army from the Land of the Dead. So, if it's not too much trouble…" He yelled out something in Egyptian, and the soldiers aimed their spears at them again. "Hand it over."

"Okay, here you go," Larry said as he handed Kahmunrah the tablet.

"Wise decision."

"Are you nuts?!" Raya exclaimed.

"No, I think he's very smart." He shouted a command in Egyptian to his soldiers, and they lowered their spears and began to walk out.

Larry started to walk back to the crate. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, I thought you wanted the Cube, but…"

Kahmunrah ordered his soldiers to stop and then turned to look at them. "The Cube?"

"The Cube…of Rubik."

Raya put her hand to her forehead. This was Larry's plan?

"All right, what is this Cube of Rubik, then?" Kahmunrah asked.

"The Cube. You know, it's the cube that turns all who oppose you to dust? That one? Whatever. I thought—It was my bad, 'cause—You know what? By the way, your brother didn't want to mess with it, either. Yeah, he wanted to play it safe, too. Just, you sort of struck me as a next-level sort of guy, so I was…"

Kahmunrah shouted yet another Egyptian order and the spears were once again pointed at them. "I am not my brother, Larry. I will kill you and Raya and your friends in the blink of an eye. Now take me to this Cube of Rubik."

"What are you doing?" Raya whispered as they walked off.

"Just follow my lead," Larry whispered back. He led Kahmunrah over to the crate with the octopus in it. "Here it is."

"Open it," Kahmunrah commanded.

Larry unlatched the box and the octopus flung itself out. The tentacles hit many of the Egyptian soldiers and crashed open several crates letting its occupants run or fly free.

Kahmunrah got flung backwards and the tablet went flying. Larry ducked under the tentacles and managed to catch the tablet before it hit the ground. Raya ran after him, quickly avoiding one of the tentacles, and they both started running down one of the aisleways.

"Come back here!" Kahmunrah shouted. "Come back here with my tablet! I still have your friends!"

"Oh, these stupid shoes!" Raya cried as she tried her best to sprint after Larry. She quickly kicked off her heels and tossed them away from her and started running barefoot.

They rounded a corner and ran into the octopus. Its tentacle slammed into Larry's chest and knocked him back into one of the crates. He stood back up and looked in the other direction. Kahmunrah's soldiers were running towards them.

"Now what, genius?" Raya hissed.


	16. Napolean and Kahmunrah's Soldiers

The sound of a motorcycle revving sounded above them, and a man with blond hair came riding on top of one of the crates before landing on the floor.

"Take the wheel!" he yelled.

"What?" Larry asked.

"I said, take the wheel! Oh, we're in it now! I love it! I love it!"

Larry and Raya ran over to the motorcycle. The man got into the sidecar while Raya got on behind Larry and put her hands around his waist so she wouldn't fall off.

"Just keep her straight, I'll handle the rest. Now, charge!"

Larry sped off in the directions of Kahmunrah's soldiers. "Okay, so what's the plan here?"

"We're Americans! We don't plan, we do! Now hold on!"

Larry rammed right into the soldiers. One of them landed on a crate and ended up releasing several kangaroos. He turned around a corner, now free of the soldiers.

"See that?" the man exclaimed. "Act first, think later! Works every time! You're in good hands! General George A. Custer of the Fighting U.S. 7th Cavalry, at your service. Yee-haw!" He stood up in the sidecar and ended up hitting a low shelf in the warehouse. "I'm good, I'm good! Fly, you fools!"

"Do you think he meant to reference _Lord of the Rings_ there?" Raya asked.

"I highly doubt it!" Larry answered.

"Larry, watch out!"

Larry skidded to a stop as a woman entered their path.

"What's the rumpus, ace?" the woman asked.

"Look, lady, could you get out of the way?" Larry demanded.

"'Lady'? Who are you calling 'lady'? The name is Amelia."

A spear hit the front tire of the motorcycle rendering the vehicle useless. They looked over to find Kahmunrah's soldiers. Raya grabbed the tablet from the sidecar and she and Larry quickly got off the motorcycle and tried to go find an exit.

"Amelia Earhart!" the woman continued. "Perhaps you've heard of me?"

"Oh, right," Larry said. "You're a famous pilot or whatever."

"Pilot? I was the first woman to fly the Atlantic! First woman to receive the Flying Cross, first woman to fly across the 48 states in a gyroprop. Now if you'd wipe that perhaps-permanent look of alarm off your kisser, I was wondering if you might be so kind as to tell me exactly where I am."

"You're in a museum. Or, actually, under it. And we're in kind of a dangerous situation right now, so you might not want to be anywhere near us." Amelia skidded back over to him. "Wow, you're fast."

"What's your name, flyboy?"

"Uh, my name is Larry Daley, and this is my friend, Raya Daniels."

"Well, Larry Daley, in case you weren't listening, I'm not one to shy away from danger."

She moved out into the open and several spears were tossed her way. By some stroke of luck, none of them hit her.

"How about spears? Are you one to shy away from spears?"

Larry and Raya started running towards the door.

Amelia smiled broadly and removed her aviator hat. "Let's ankle, skipper! Now we're gonna have some fun."

The three of them climbed up some steps and entered through a door that led them to another part of the museum.

"You're both quite the popular fellows, Mr. Daley and Miss Daniels," Amelia said to the two former night guards. "Why don't you just skedaddle?"

"We can't skedaddle," Larry answered. "Our friends are being held down there. We got to go get them. We got to find another way down."

As they entered a room with several paintings hanging up, Larry was suddenly hit in the face with something. He looked over to find a painting of people playing in the snow. One of the children had hit him with a snowball.

"This is new," Larry said as he looked at the painting. Everyone in the painting looked at Larry and Raya and began backing away in fear. "Hey, it's all right. We don't want to hurt you."

"I don't think it's you two they're afraid of, Mr. Daley," Amelia told him.

They looked over to find Kahmunrah's soldiers coming for them. More soldiers appeared where they had just come from, cutting off all escape. The three of them got backed into a corner.

Larry looked up at the painting, _American Gothic_. He slammed the tablet into Raya's arms and stole the pitchfork from the painting.

"Back off! Just back off!" he yelled as he twirled the pitchfork. The soldiers looked at him with confusion. "I will fork you! How about you, huh?"

Amelia rolled her eyes and took the pitchfork. "Never send a boy to do a woman's job. I spent two weeks spear-hunting with a tribe in Micronesia." She threw the pitchfork, but one of the soldiers caught it. "The Micronesians had much slower reflexes."

Larry looked over at the famous V-Day picture. "Come on!"

He grabbed Amelia and Raya and they all hopped into the painting, landing quite ungracefully onto the ground. They looked up to find themselves in a black-and-white world where everyone was celebrating the end of World War II.

Raya looked over at Larry. "You're black-and-white."

"So are you."

Raya looked down to find that her yellow sun dress was now a shade of gray.

"Well, this is one humdinger of a hootenanny," Amelia remarked.

"You have a way with words, Amelia."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"I think you and our friend, Jedediah, would get along quite nicely."

They looked behind them to find the soldiers looking at the opening of the painting. Larry quickly pulled the two women on the sidewalk.

"Excuse me," he said as he quickly passed by several celebrating people. "Sorry. Excuse me." He took his phone out as it started ringing. "Wow, four bars in 1945. Hello?" There was a pause before he said, "Oh, we're way past the stairwell, Nicky." Nicky asked some kind of question, and Larry answered, "Sort of."

"What is that flibberty-widget you are talking to?" Amelia asked.

"It's Amelia Earhart," Larry answered into the phone.

One of the sailors took Amelia's hand and led her over to the street.

"Hey!" Larry exclaimed. "Wait a minute!" They both tried to go after her but bumped into another sailor.

"Buddy, miss, what's your hurry?" he asked. "Didn't you hear? The war's over!"

"And I could not be more thrilled!" Raya said quickly.

"Yeah," Larry added. "Sorry. These guys are chasing us." He pointed over at Kahmunrah's soldiers who had come into the painting.

"What? What am I looking at, Mardi Gras? What unit are you from?"

"We're from Brooklyn."

"What? Are you serious? I'm from Flatbush!" The sailor turned around to address his friends. "Hey, fellas! These so-and-so's are trying to rough up my pal and this pretty lady here just 'cause they're from Brooklyn!"

"Thank you!"

"You got it!"

Larry and Raya ran off as the sailors took care of some of the soldiers. Larry ran into the nurse from the famous photo and pushed the sailor out of the way.

"Excuse me. Mind if I get in here?"

He dipped the nurse and began kissing her to hide himself from the soldiers. With no choice, Raya groaned and took the sailor's arm.

"Dip me," she commanded. The sailor grinned and obeyed her request before trying to kiss her, but she quickly stopped him. "I don't think so, pretty boy."

The soldiers passed by the two of them, their trick to blend in apparently successful.

"Any time you're done, Mr. Daley," Amelia said as she came over to them.

Larry finished kissing the nurse and grabbed Raya out of the sailor's grasp.

"Thanks!" Raya called, lightly hitting the sailor on the cheek.

"Call me!" the nurse exclaimed to Larry as they all got out of the painting.

"Thank you for that," Larry told Amelia.

"So you're both quite the smooth operators, aren't you, Mr. Daley?"

They looked at the painting and saw the soldiers running towards them again.

"Quick!" Larry exclaimed.

He handed Raya the tablet, and then he and Amelia turned the painting around. It jolted a little as the soldiers tried to get out but soon stilled.

"That actually worked."

"What's next?" Amelia smiled as they began walking through the museum halls.

"Look, nothing personal, but we're kind of in the middle of something here that's not really your fight."

"It's because I'm a woman, isn't it?"

"What? No. Why would you even ask that when Raya is here?"

"He's got a point," Raya said. "And it really isn't your fight."

"Yeah, it's because we've got this ancient raised-from-the-dead evil Pharaoh guy who's willing to kill us and probably anyone near us to get that tablet so he can rule the world."

"So it is because I'm a woman!" Amelia said.

Raya rolled her eyes. "Again, I'm here. And I'm a woman. It's not a matter of gender."

"Look, I—" Larry started.

"No, you look, Mr. Daley!" Amelia demanded. "If it weren't for me, you'd both still be lost in that monochromatic mayhem!"

"Lost in what?"

"Black and white photo, you boob!" She stopped the both of them. "Now listen, and listen good. I can help you both. I want to help you, and not because I like either of you, which so far I don't, but because I smell adventure, and, gosh darn it, I want in."

"Okay," Larry said, unwilling to waste time arguing. He started walking off again. "Don't blame us if something happens to you."

"I should be so lucky. We'll get you back down to your chums, Mr. Daley. You won't get lost following Amelia Earhart."

"Quick, get down!"

Larry pushed Raya and Amelia down behind a large fountain. They looked up and found French soldiers aiming their guns at the exhibits.

"I see Kahmunrah has found more soldiers," Raya groaned.

"Well, well, Mr. Daley, I quite like the way you're holding me," Amelia said.

Larry quickly took his hand off her shoulder. "No. Sorry, I wasn't trying to—"

"Oh, please, stop beating your gums, Mr. Daley. You haven't been able to take your cheaters off my chassis since the moment we met."

"I literally didn't understand one word of that."

"You're very sure of yourself, aren't you?" Raya said.

A harp started playing above them.

"Is it just me or is there music in the air?" Amelia asked.

They all looked up to see three cherubs flying around and singing.

"Hey! Hey, shh!" Larry whispered. "You! Little flying angel things! Quiet!"

"They're cupids, Mr. Daley. Gods of love."

"Great. Gods of love, would you shut up?! Please shut up. We're trying to hide!"

The cherubs began to sing a different song. Raya thought they just sounded like a boy band.

"No, don't change the arrangement," Larry hissed. "It's not about the arrangement. Quiet! Shh!"

The cherubs continued to sing which made the French soldiers start coming over to the fountain. Larry guided Amelia and Raya around it so that they avoided the soldiers. The soldiers went down the other hallway as the three of them bolted down the way they had come. It didn't help for they just ended up running into more soldiers.

They turned around to find Napoleon. "And so, the little tiny man and woman who could not be smaller or shorter than mice run into the claws of the giant cat!"

"You're really hung up on the height, aren't you?" Larry asked.

"No, it's not about height, see…"

"Yes, you are. You're saying we're little mice, you're a giant cat."

"I am the giant cat."

"No offense, I just—You know, you're—You're Napoleon. There's a complex named after you. You're famous for being little, and it's true. Look. Hey—"

"Oh, you naive American man-boy."

"Look. Neither of us are gonna be jamming anytime soon, right? So it's not like we should…It's not even an issue."

Napoleon said something in French. "It's not about height or something else. It's a plan. It's a brilliant plan."

"So it was a plan."

"Snazzy maneuver, Emperor," Amelia put in.

Napoleon smiled and went over to her. "Merci, mademoiselle. Now, if your boyfriend and his friend would kindly come with me—"

"Oh, I'm not her boyfriend," Larry said quickly. "Not her boyfriend."

"No," Amelia clarified.

"Just friends?" Napoleon asked with a smirk. "Oh."

"Yeah, friends," Larry said.

"Acquaintances," Amelia added. "Friends."

Napoleon kept smiling and eyeing Amelia. Then he ran over near Larry's ear and said quietly, "Were you guys, like, friends in college and just afraid now to both ruin your relationship by telling the other person that you want to be more than friends, that you like-like each other?"

Larry tried to answer, but didn't have a clue what he just said. "One more time? I'm sorry. I didn't catch the…"

"Were you guys, like, friends in college and now both afraid to ruin your relationship by telling the other person that you want to be more than friends, that you like-like each other?"

"Oh…No."

"No?"

"No."

"I just love the nitty-gritty of relationships. All us French do."

"Great."

"Yes," Amelia smiled awkwardly. "Amour!"

"Now!" Napoleon yelled as he raised his knife.

"Yeah?" Larry asked.

"This way, or you both die."

"Yes."

Larry and Raya followed Napoleon back to where Kahmunrah was, the French soldiers' spears pointed at them.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Amelia called.

"No!" Napoleon shouted. "Our fight is not with you."


	17. Looking to Translate the Tablet

The two of them were led to the Smithsonian Castle where Kahmunrah had gathered together many of the exhibits both current and in the Archives.

"Hello, Mr. Daley and Miss Daniels," Kahmunrah smiled. "Nice to see you again. Now, if you don't mind, I shall take that from you." He snatched the tablet out of Raya's grasp. "Thank you." He went over to the Gate of Kahmunrah where they both had been with Brundon just a few hours prior. He put the tablet into the impression on the Gate. "Finally. Finally! After 3,000 years, my evil army, my beautiful, beautiful army, shall be UNLEASHED!"

Larry and Raya looked at each other when nothing happened. Raya really wished a cricket would start chirping, but she was out of luck.

Kahmunrah groaned in frustration. "I'm afraid that Mother and Father may have slightly changed the combination on me."

"I guess this whole, uh, unleashing-the-underworld thing isn't really working out for you, huh?" Larry asked. "It must be really frustrating, 'cause you've waited thousands of years to come back from the dead and everything, and now you can't get it open."

"Fear not, for I shall wait a thousand more if I must."

"Good, 'cause in a few hours, you'll be standing here in a frustrated position, frozen, and we'll walk out of here with our buddies and that'll be that. So, we got all night."

"Really? All night? Well…he doesn't."

Larry and Raya looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a black-and-white gangster holding Jedediah in a birdcage.

"Open that cage," Kahmunrah ordered.

"What are you…What are you doing?" Larry asked. He tried to go to Jedediah, but Ivan the Terrible and his soldiers stopped him.

"No touchin'!" Jedediah yelled. "No touchin'! Don't you manhandle me!"

"Oh, look, he's having a tiny little tantrum," Kahmunrah smiled.

"Jed?" Larry called.

Kahmunrah reached into the cage and grabbed Jedediah. "Oh, don't you squirm! Don't squirm. It'll only be worse for you."

"Put him down!"

"Don't be afraid. I shan't hurt you. Whoops." He dropped Jedediah into an hourglass. "I lied. Whoops!" He flipped the hourglass over and sand began to pour onto the cowboy. "Oh, I don't think he has all night at all, Mr. Daley. From the looks of things, I'd say he has, oh, a little over an hour."

"Take me out of here!" Jedediah yelled.

Kahmunrah went over to the Gate and yanked the tablet out of the impression. Then he went over and handed it to Larry. "You were the guardians! You both know all about this tablet. You're both obviously much more clever than the rest of us. You may or may not know the combination, but I am going to give you both exactly one hour to figure it out. If you do not, I shall kill your friends. And please don't think about escaping for I shall be watching you."

"Look, we don't even know how to begin to decipher this thing, all right?" Larry told the pharaoh desperately. "Really!"

"Oh, what a pity. And your little cowboy friend seemed like such a charming little fellow. Ah, well. Tick-tock, Mr. Daley. Your hour has begun."

"Hey!" Jedediah called from inside the hourglass. "You got this, partners. I know you do."

"Shoo!" Kahmunrah said as he waved them both away with his hand.

Larry and Raya quickly rushed out of the Castle to try and find some way to give Kahmunrah what he wanted and save their miniature friend.

"Okay," Raya said when they were out. "He is basically everything we feared Ahkmenrah would be."

"Thank goodness he's not like that. Can you imagine how that night would've gone when we were trying to get all the exhibits back to the museum?"

The two of them rushed back over to the part of the museum where they had been captured by Napoleon's soldiers.

"There you both are!" Amelia exclaimed as she joined them. "Are you all right? I've been worried sick! Sick, I tell you."

"No, we're both fine," Larry told her.

"So what's our next move, partner?"

"I don't know. We just got to get this tablet translated." They rounded a corner and ran into the octopus from the Archives. "Oh, great! This guy again. Look, buddy, we don't want any trouble, all right?"

"Larry," Raya said as she noticed that the octopus looked really discolored. "He's an ocean creature."

Larry handed Raya the tablet again and then grabbed a painting of an ocean off the wall. He flung the painting at the octopus and it got covered in water. The octopus began squealing happily.

"Look at that!" Amelia remarked. "I guess our sassy cephalopod was just a fish who didn't like being out of water. He's not such a ballywagger after all."

They all started to leave when a tentacle wrapped around Larry. The octopus pulled him close and began kissing his face with his tentacle.

"Okay," Larry groaned. "Glad you're happy."

Raya grimaced as Larry pulled away covered in goop from the octopus. They continued on when they heard, "Hello? A little assistance?"

They looked over to find a bust of Teddy Roosevelt.

"Oh, hey, Teddy!" Larry exclaimed. "Perfect! Maybe you could help us."

"I'd love to help you, but first things first. My nose is so itchy, it's driving me insane. I hate to ask, but, as you see, I'm missing a few body parts. Could you please, uh, give it a scratch?"

"Yeah, sure." Larry started scratching the former president's nose.

"Oh, yes! That's exquisite. A little over there…Yes!"

"More?"

"Oh, yes! Yes! Oh, that's…Sweet rutabaga pie, that was divine. Theodore Roosevelt, at your service."

"Twenty-sixth President of the United States, Rough Rider, founder of the national parks, and a whole bunch of other stuff."

"Have we met?"

"Oh, no, there's, uh, there's another Teddy. We have one of you in New York."

"Really? What's he like, this other me?"

"Oh…he's pretty much the same, except with…"

"Except what? Say it. Except with a body?"

"Yes, yes. He has a body."

"Oh, dash it, the pain!"

"And a horse."

"Excuse me!" Amelia interjected. "We really need someone to translate what's written on this tablet. Do you read hieroglyphics?"

"Yes, I do, missy," Teddy smiled. Raya held up the tablet so he could see it. "That's a simple one. Bird. Man with spear. Sideways fish. Beetle. Vase."

"Okay, and—and what does that mean?" Larry asked.

"It means—and this is just a rough translation—'A man with a spear trapped a bird and a sideways fish in a vase…and there was also a beetle'."

Larry looked over at Raya. "I don't think that's it."

"That's just one possible translation. Another possible translation is 'You will find the combination you seek if you figure out the secret at the heart of Pharaoh's tomb'."

"Should've started with that," Raya told him.

"Sorry."

"Okay, and what does that mean?" Larry asked.

"I don't know! What am I, the Sphinx? 'What's this? What's that?' Why don't you ask New York Teddy? I'm sure he'd love to get his grabby little fingers all over that thing! Probably let his horse lick it, too!"

"Teddy, relax," Raya said.

"Mr. Daley, Miss Daniels, we should be going to the sculpture gallery," Amelia said to the former night guards. "I think there's someone there who might have a better thought on this."

Amelia led them through the halls and down towards the room where all the sculptures were.

"The fellow we're looking for is just down here."

"Bonsoir," a small statue of a dancer said to them.

"Hello, young lady."

Amelia began dancing across from the young statue.

"Hey, excuse me," Larry said. "Could we keep moving, please?"

"We certainly could, but then we might miss a rare opportunity. I mean, she is a Degas, Mr. Daley."

"Okay, it's just we got a little buddy stuck in an hourglass, I got a pitch meeting at Wal-Mart in the morning, Raya has classes to go to tomorrow…It just—It would be great if we could…"

"He's right here," Amelia said impatiently. She led them over to a statue of The Thinker. "I think he'll have a thought on this. Mr. Thinker, we're sorry to interrupt your contemplation, but we really need to figure out the secret at the heart of Pharaoh's tomb."

"I'm thinking," the statue said slowly. "I'm thinking. I'm thinking. I'm thinking…"

"It's not happening with him," Larry said losing patience quickly. Amelia shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

"Oh, wow. You've gotta be kidding me. Check that out! Oh, yeah!"

The Thinker looked over at a statue of a Greek woman nearby who giggled shyly. The Thinker started showing off his muscles.

"Hey!" Larry called. "Hey! Buddy! Over here! This is serious."

"Apparently, it's a matter of life and death," Amelia put in.

"I'll tell you what's a matter of life and death," the statue smiled. "That beautiful lady over there. Hey, baby! Check out the gun show going on over here!" He flexed his biceps. "Boom! Bang! Firepower!"

"He's certainly no Einstein," Amelia muttered.

"Biceps! Deltoids."

Raya looked over at Larry, and he smiled as he guessed what she was thinking. "Wait a minute, we saw a bunch of those."

"A bunch of whats?" Amelia asked.

"Little Einsteins."

"Where?"

He led her to a window across from the Air and Space Museum. "Over there, in Air and Space. We gotta get over there." He turned to find Amelia staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Okay. Then why are you staring at me?"

"I don't wanna miss a moment."

"All right, good, but we should get going, 'cause we—" He was cut off as Amelia slapped him hard on the face. "Ow! Why?"

"You talk too much, ace."

Raya's mouth dropped open as Amelia pressed her lips firmly to Larry's. Larry looked at Raya, and she just tried really hard not to start laughing.

"I don't know why I did that, Mr. Daley," Amelia admitted after she pulled away. "I just feel as if I've been asleep for a long time and now, suddenly, I'm awake."

"Mm-hmm. I can explain that—" He was cut off as Amelia placed her hand over his mouth. When she removed it, he tried again, "But really, I could. I really—" He was again cut off as Amelia slapped him on the face once more. "Again, why?"

Amelia then kissed him again even longer than the first one. Raya wished she still had her cell phone on her, but she had left all her belongings in the Archives when she had been running for her life.

Raya looked up and saw that the cherubs were looking lovingly at Amelia and Larry.

"Oh, great, you're back," Larry said dryly.

The cherubs began to sing _My Heart Will Go On_.

"Okay. Yeah. Great. Love theme from _Titanic_. Good, but not really appropriate."

He pushed Raya in the direction of the exit, and they all started briskly walking off. The cherubs just followed them.

"You don't let yourself enjoy things much, do you, Mr. Daley?" Amelia asked.

Larry looked up at the cherubs as they started singing a different song. "Okay, you know what? It's not really the song choice. And by the way, you're a little pitchy."

"Well, I thought you were amazing, and you look wonderful."

The cherubs blew a kiss towards Amelia. Then the lead singer flew over and kissed Raya on the cheek.

"Oh. Thank you," she smiled.

"Could you just fly away, please?" Larry said.

The cherubs took off.

"And so the adventure continues," Amelia remarked.

"You just kissed a wax figure," Raya said quietly to Larry as they all exited the Washington Art Museum. "I really wish I could put that on Facebook."

"Very funny."


	18. Air and Space Museum

They headed across the lawn to get to the Air and Space Museum. Halfway there, they had to stop when they saw Ivan's soldiers coming after them. Larry slammed Raya and Amelia against a board with a map of Washington D.C on it.

"Criminy, we're jimmy-jacked," Amelia said.

"Jimmy-jacked?" Larry asked. "Really?"

"It's the way I speak."

"Yeah, I know, but that one sounds made up, even for you."

"'Oh, no, our path has been blocked by bad people.' What's the fun in that? The point is we're not getting into the Air and Space right now."

"You're right. We are…"

"Jimmy-jacked," all three of them said together.

"Come on," Larry said.

He pushed the two women along, and they all ran over to the Lincoln Memorial, careful to avoid the soldiers on the way.

"We should be okay in here for a while."

"So, how long have you guarded antiquities?" Amelia asked Larry as they approached the large statue of Abraham Lincoln.

"What? Oh, no, I don't actually work at the, uh—"

"I just thought with the fancy getup and all—"

"Yeah, no, I—I borrowed this. I mean, I was a guard back in New York, Raya and I both were, but, uh, that was a while ago."

"So why did you both leave? Did you not enjoy it?"

"No, we loved it. We just…Things sort of took off in a different direction, so…"

"In my defense, I was only working there as an internship," Raya stated. "My plan always was to just work there for a year to get my college credit."

"So what do you both do now?" Amelia asked.

"I'm studying pre-law at NYU."

"Well, I sort of, um—Well, I sort of design products and sell them," Larry answered.

"You're an inventor!" Amelia exclaimed.

"I am. I am an inventor, yeah. I invent stuff."

"Like the rocket ship?"

"No."

"The sea plane. The dirigible?"

"No, not aircraft. Sort of like more small-scale stuff, like, um, like…well, the Glow-in-the-Dark Flashlight is something that—that was mine."

"So this new job, do you like it?"

"Yeah, I like it. I like it a lot. It's exciting. It's…" He realized Amelia was staring at him with confusion. "What?"

"I'm just confused is all. If you're not excited by it, why do you do it?"

"I am—I am excited by it. I just said—"

"I know what you said, Mr. Daley, but what I see in front of me is a man who's lost his moxie."

"I have not lost my…I got my moxie."

"Do you know why I became a pilot?"

"I don't, no."

"For the fun of it. Why else would anyone do anything?"

Raya knew that Amelia was focusing on Larry's new job at Daley Devices, but she started thinking about how much it related back to her own life. Ahkmenrah had asked her the same thing that Amelia asked Larry: if they liked what they were doing with their lives. Both of them answered yes, but perhaps that wasn't the truth. Raya didn't really like attending any of the seminars, she hated going to the business dinners, and truth be told, she didn't really like any of her current classes either. In fact, she had nearly fallen asleep when she had been in a courtroom sitting in on a case. Sure the money from the job would be good, but would it really be worth it if she was just miserable all the time?

Her thought process was cut off when the statue of Abraham Lincoln started groaning loudly behind them.

"Great Gatsby!" Amelia exclaimed.

Abraham Lincoln yawned and waved away the pigeons that had been resting on him. "Blast these pigeons and their incessant cooing!"

"No!" Larry yelled as Abraham stood up. "Mr. President! Sir!"

"All right. Time to see the state of this great union!"

"Please don't get up!"

He started to walk outside of the memorial. "I always say leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today."

"No, no! Sir, if you go out there, you're gonna freak a lot of people out!"

"Freak? I assure you, sir, I am no freak."

"No, I didn't mean you're—I didn't mean you're a freak…"

"Come here, little one." Lincoln grabbed Larry by the back of his jacket and lifted him up to his eye level. "In fact, if anyone is freakish, I'm afraid it's you, sir. The truth is you are very small. And I mean even for a regular-sized human."

"What? Why would you—why would you even say that?"

"I must be honest."

"Oh, right. Okay, Honest Abe. Of course. I'm sorry. Great."

"I guess you know how Jedediah feels, huh, Larry?" Raya called up to him.

"Yeah, it's no wonder he said he doesn't like to be manhandled."

"Come, now, Mr. President," Amelia said firmly. "Put the little man down and let's sit our fanny back in that throne of yours."

"You have a can-do attitude, and I shall do as you ask," Lincoln said.

"Thank you," Larry said as he was placed back down on the ground.

"There you go."

"Thank you," Amelia told him.

"It's that very can-do spirit that has defined this remarkable nation of ours."

As President Lincoln returned to his chair, Raya and Amelia turned around to find Ivan's soldiers approaching the memorial.

"They're coming," Amelia said to Larry. They all hid behind one of the pillars. "Mr. President, we're gonna need you to hold still now."

"One night in Gettysburg, we were completely surrounded—What?"

"Abraham, freeze!"

"Freeze? I, uh…"

Lincoln froze in a completely absurd position. Raya rolled her eyes, knowing he should've just gone back to his normal sitting position. The soldiers passed by the memorial, and the three of them remained undetected.

"Thank you," Amelia whispered to the president.

"You're welcome."

"Come on, let's get to Air and Space," Larry said to the two women.

"If I may, you two make an adorable couple."

"Oh, no, we're not, uh—No, we're not a—I mean, we're not a—"

"'We're not a…I mean, we're not a…Blah, blah, blah'," Lincoln mimicked Larry. "I never lie! The truth is you two are adorable together."

"Thank you. Good night."

"Farewell, lovely ladies and small, little man."

The three of them descended the steps and began to continue their trek over to the Air and Space Museum.

"My feet are freezing right now," Raya remarked.

"You could've left your shoes on."

"Oh, no, I'd rather be barefoot than wear those stupid things any longer. High heels are fun once in a while, but having to wear them every day is absolutely awful."

"Why are you majoring in pre-law again?"

Raya didn't answer him. She didn't know how.

The three of them finally made it to the Air and Space Museum.

"Now let's see if we can find these Einsteins of yours," Amelia said.

The three of them went over to a door with a sign that read 'Authorized Personnel Only'. Larry scanned Brundon's ID badge and the door opened. They froze as they stepped into a room with pilots for all different kinds of planes and shuttles.

Amelia smiled broadly and walked up to two African-American pilots.

"Miss Earhart?" one of them addressed.

"Yes?"

"I wanna say thank you."

"What for, Captain?"

"A lot of people didn't think we could fly, either." He politely saluted her. "Thanks for clearing the runway, ma'am."

Amelia formally saluted back.

"Race you to Paris?"

"You're on!"

"Whoa, whoa, hey, hey, no!" Larry yelled grabbing her by the arm. "Not now! We gotta—"

"It's just a quick jaunt over the pond."

"No. Gotta find the Einsteins. Come on, we gotta go. We don't have time. Come on!"

"Sorry, it's in the blood." She stopped as she pointed out a bright red old plane. "There she is, Mr. Daley. Old Bessie, the old family bus. That gal took me across the Atlantic!"

"Okay. I think the Einsteins are over here though."

Larry and Raya went one way while Amelia kept walking towards her old plane. They reached the glass display case but found with disappointment that the Einsteins were no longer in the case.

"Where'd you go?" Larry asked. "Where'd they go?"

Planes of all kinds started firing up behind them, even the miniature ones. Larry and Raya ran over to the Mission Control board in the center of the room.

"D.C., this is Mission Control," someone said over the speakers. "All systems go and green for lift-off."

"Roger that. We are green for lift-off."

"No, we're definitely not green for any kind of lift-off!" Larry yelled.

"I want a 'go, no-go' for launch," one of the Mission Control workers said at the table.

Larry ran up to him. "I say no-go. Let's not go."

"Torquing angles incoming."

"Tone it down with the torque. Torque it down. De-torque. De-torque."

"Commence ignition sequence."

"Roger that, flight," another worker said.

"We have launch commit."

"No!" Larry yelled. "No, no, no!" He ran behind the desk and grabbed the speakerphone from one of the workers. "No, we do not have commit. Repeat. We are decommissioning the committal of the launch, and it is now a negatory launch phase. We are in a no-fly, no-go phase. That is a November-Gorgon phase of non-flying! And we're gonna say good night. Thank you. Good work. Over and out."

"November-Gorgon?" Raya asked with a smirk.

"Well, it worked, didn't it?"

The two of them walked off when they ran into a monkey who looked a lot like Dexter.

"Hey, little space monkey," Larry said.

The monkey pointed to her nametag.

"You're Able. Okay, good. How you doing?" Able saluted him. "Oh, uh, yes, good. At ease. All right." She then held her hand out. "Oh, you're a polite little fella, aren't you? Hey, you happen to know where those little Einstein bobblehead guys are?"

Able pointed in Amelia's direction. "Mr. Daley! Miss Daniels!" she called. "I found your Einsteins."

"Great! Hey."

Larry and Raya ran over to the table where Amelia was. Amelia smiled at the bobbleheads as Larry took the tablet and held it up. "Gentlemen, we're trying to crack the combination of this tablet doodad, and the writing here says we'll find it if we figure out the secret at the heart of Pharaoh's tomb."

"That's an easy one," one of the bobbleheads exclaimed as other bobbleheads boosted him up to the counter. "The answer's in the question."

"What does that mean?" Larry asked.

"'Figure out'. It's a figure! I.e. a number. And the Pharaoh's tomb, i.e. the pyramids. Don't you get it, kid? You're looking for the secret number at the heart of the pyramids."

"Well, whistle me Dixie, the answer's pi!" Amelia said as she snapped her fingers.

"Pi?" Larry asked.

"3.14159265, to be exact," the bobblehead answered.

"Yes! 3.1495265?"

"No, no, no, 3.14159265."

"Yeah, okay, 3.14…I'm sorry, I can't tell. Is it yes or no? Cause you just—I know it's hard, could you just…" He pressed down on the small head.

"Don't touch the hair."

"Sorry, I can't tell if it's up, or…"

"I'm a bobblehead, _dummkopf_ , and that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, we like it. All together, now!"

"That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, we like it, uh-huh, uh-huh!" all the bobbleheads sang together.

"You know, we can't all be Einsteins, so…"

"I can!"

"We are!"

"He is!"

"You are!"

"Me, too!"

"Okay, all right," Larry said to make them stop. "Okay, can you slow it down a little bit?"

The bobblehead sighed. "Okay. 3.14159265."

"Okay. 3.14…"

"I've got it," Amelia interrupted. "Thank you, Mr. Einsteins."

"Thank you."

"You know, I seriously thought that I would never need to know pi in my entire life," Raya told Larry. "I guess I stand corrected."

Larry looked at his watch again. "We've got about 10 minutes to get over there to Jed."

"I think we make a good team," Amelia smiled. "Perhaps more than a team." She moved in to kiss him again, but Larry stopped her.

"Wait. Okay, wait."

"What's the matter? You didn't like kissing me?"

"No, I did. It was great. I mean, the slapping hurt a little bit, but…"

"So you don't like me, then."

"Of course I like you. You're incredible. I think you're an amazing person. You're…It's just there are certain issues that would prevent us from…I just—It's just…You're not—"

"I'm not what, Mr. Daley?"

"Okay. You're made of…"

"Made of…"

Larry saw how Amelia was looking at him and just couldn't find it in himself to tell her the truth. "Wonderful things. You're made of good, wonderful things." He walked a little farther before he stopped. "Wait a minute. Where's Raya?"


	19. Feelings for Ahkmenrah?

Larry and Amelia had been so preoccupied with their strange relationship that they hadn't noticed three black-and-white gangsters clap a hand over Raya's mouth before dragging her outside of the Air and Space Museum.

"What is your problem?" she exclaimed as two of them grabbed her arms and began yanking her back to the Castle. "I thought Kahmunrah wanted us to figure out the combination."

"Pipe down, missy," one of the gangsters ordered. "Kahmunrah asked us to bring you to him."

"Why?"

"How should I know?"

The gangsters forcibly dragged Raya back into the Castle where Kahmunrah had built up several of the museum pieces all together to make up a crude throne.

"Gigantess!" Jedediah cried from inside the hourglass.

"It's okay, Jed," Raya told him though she didn't fully believe her own words.

"Let her go, Casserole!"

"Ah, how nice of you to drop in," Kahmunrah said to Raya, ignoring Jedediah's pleas.

"Not like I had much of a choice," she fired back. "Why exactly are you doing this? What happened to forcing me and Larry to go find the combination together?"

"Did you get it?"

"If we did, I probably wouldn't tell you."

"I am a pharaoh, and you will tell me the combination!"

"Wow, how are you and Ahkmenrah even related? You are nothing like him."

"I am a better king than he was!"

"Ahkmenrah is a better king than you could ever hope to be!" Kahmunrah scoffed as he smiled and turned away from her. "He is good and kind and an amazing leader. He cares about his people and will do anything to protect them." Her mind started wandering to his amazing smile and the way that he looked at her when he was happy. "When he looks at you…you know that you have nothing to fear…just as long as he's around." She then thought about how he had looked at her two nights ago when she had gone to the museum for the first time in months. "And with that same look…he can make you feel horrible for not seeing him for weeks at a time."

Kahmunrah smirked. "Oh, I see. You've fallen in love with my dear brother."

Raya scoffed. "No. I am not—I am not in love with…"

She stopped when she realized that she couldn't finish her sentence. The truth was that she had never fully admitted to herself that she liked Ahkmenrah as more than a friend. But now that Kahmunrah was forcing her to think about it, she started thinking back to all the times they had spent together while she had been working at the museum and how much fun they had. She enjoyed seeing him and talking to him. Getting to spend time with him was the highlight of her internship. She loved the moments where it was just the two of them. All of that explained why seeing him so upset broke her heart.

"That's what I thought," Kahmunrah smirked. "Isn't that just like that brother of mine? Always getting everything, even the pretty girls. Well, not this time. This time, _I'm_ getting what _he_ wants!" He turned back to Raya. "I hope you like it here, my dear. For tonight, under the light of the moon, we shall be married."

"Ew!" Raya exclaimed. "I would rather be mummified alive and then eaten by scarabs!"

Kahmunrah's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Okay, so I've seen _The Mummy_ one too many times. The point still stands!"

"You will become my wife, and then you can watch as I kill off all of your precious friends. Just like I did to my baby brother."

Raya felt all air leave her lungs. "What?" she said quietly. "Oh my gosh…that's why Ahkmenrah never told me about you or about how he died. Because you killed him!"

"It wasn't hard really. I just called him away one day and while he was waiting for me to arrive, I walked up behind him and stabbed him in the back."

"He was your brother."

"He didn't deserve the throne! I did! I was the eldest! But none of that matters now. Because now, I shall have the tablet and a wife which is more than he ever had." Kahmunrah walked over to her as she struggled against the two gangsters holding her. "You shall make an excellent queen."

"Get off me," Raya demanded as he touched her cheek. "Get off!"

She struggled to get away from him, but the gangsters refused to release her. Just when he was about to kiss her, a loud buzzing sound filled the air.

"What is that funny sound?" Kahmunrah asked.

Suddenly, a large plane crashed through the window with Larry and Amelia on it. Larry rolled off onto the ground while the plane kept going. Amelia ended up crashing into a glass display. Larry started to go after her.

"Stop!" Kahmunrah yelled. "Right there, please, Mr. Daley."

"You're timing is impeccable," Raya sighed.

"You okay?" Larry asked her.

"I'm fine."

"Stop talking to my future wife, Mr. Daley," Kahmunrah ordered.

"I'm sorry, what?" Larry exclaimed looking over at Raya.

"Like I said," Raya told him dryly. "You're timing is impeccable."

"Anyway," Kahmunrah said, bringing the focus back to him. "You certainly know how to make an entrance, Mr. Daley. I hope for your little friend's sake here that you also figured out the combination."

"Give me Jed," Larry ordered reaching for the hourglass.

"Oh, no, no, no. First, give me the combination, and hand over that tablet."

"I'll give you the tablet and the combination when you release my friends and give him back to me."

"I shall release what I want to release the moment I want to release it."

"Great. And I'll release what I want to release at the exact moment that I want to release it, okay?"

"Tell me the combination and give me that tablet right now, or I shall kill all of your friends, starting with the little shaggy-headed little cowman here."

"I ain't shaggy-headed!" Jedediah yelled, the sand now up to his neck. "Gigantor, let me take this guy!"

"Don't worry, I got this handled," Larry assured him. He looked back at Kahmunrah. "You don't want to give me my friends, then you're not gonna get your combination or your tablet."

"All right, I'll tell you what. All right. They didn't call me Kahmunrah the Trustworthy for nothing. Here you go." He started to hand Larry the hourglass and then quickly pulled it back. "They didn't call me Kahmunrah the Trustworthy! They called me Kahmunrah the Bloodthirsty who kills whoever doesn't give Kahmunrah exactly what he wants in the moment that he wants it, which is right now, when I had also better get the combination and the tablet!"

"That's what they called you?"

"It was shorter in Egyptian."

"Great, I'll give you the combination after you give him back." Larry reached for the hourglass, but Kahmunrah pulled it away from him.

"How dare you? If you touch that again, I shall kill you right now."

"Okay."

"Do not touch this. This is a no-touching zone!"

"Good. Well, then—" Larry reached for the hourglass again.

"Oh my Ra! I can't believe you reached across like that again! I can't even believe it! Oh, Ra, I want to kill you right—If you didn't know this combination, you'd be—you'd be so dead right now, it would be unbelievable."

"Great, but I do know the combination."

Kahmunrah waved his hand in front of him. "Don't cross this line with your hand!"

Larry started to say something, but Kahmunrah cut him off.

"How dare you! If you speak again—If you speak again, I'm going to kill you. Do you understand this? Don't say it! Oh, Ra, I see you getting ready!"

"I wasn't gonna say anything."

"Oh, my Ra, don't say anything. I shall murder you if you talk again. Now give me that tablet and tell me the combination."

"Okay. After you give me Jed and release my friends," Larry said as he made another grab for the hourglass.

"You did all three!"

"What?"

"You spoke and you reached your hand across!"

"Isn't that only two?" Raya asked.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Look, I can talk to you about this all night, okay?" Larry said.

"How about this? How about I don't kill you right now, like I really, really want to, and I give you precisely five seconds to give me that tablet and tell me the combination?"

"We already got the combination!" Al Capone yelled as he and the rest of Kahmunrah's allies walked in. Raya saw that he was holding one of the Einstein bobbleheads. "It's pi. 3.14159265." He flipped the Einstein high up in the air and bonked him on the head. "So Crazy Hair here, he sang. Oh-ho-ho, did he sing! Like a canary."

"I'm sorry, Larry," the Einstein apologized.

"Enough out of you! Remember what happened last time?" He hit the bobblehead again.

"Hey!" Larry said. "That's enough."

"Stupid man," the Einstein grumbled.

Kahmunrah snatched the tablet from Larry and threw the hourglass up in the air. Larry quickly caught it before it hit the ground and turned it around so that Jedediah was no longer in danger.

"You okay?" Larry asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Jedediah answered.

"Must be a real bummer for you, Larry," Kahmunrah said as he once again placed the tablet in the impression. "Knowing that all of yours and my future wife's valiant efforts were, in the end, for naught. What a terrible disappointment you must be to yourself." He punched in the combination on the tablet. The tablet began to glow and hum. "Do you hear that humming sound? Do you know what that sound is?" Ivan raised his hand. "It's rhetorical." Ivan put his hand down. "That is the sound of the end." He began chanting in Ancient Egyptian.

"I'm sorry, Jed," Larry said to the small cowboy.

"You both did your best, Gigantor," Jedediah told him. "Dadgum it, we almost had him, too."

"No, I mean, I'm sorry we weren't around the last couple of years at the museum. Maybe none of this would have happened."

"You don't get it, do you, Gigantor? Octavius and I didn't call you guys 'cause we needed your help. Sure, we were in a little pickle, but it wouldn't have been the first time I had to wrestle my way out of a root sack. No, partners. We called you guys 'cause you needed us. That fancy suit and fancy dresses you've both been paradin' around in these past couple years? That there's a hangin' suit and dress. All gussied up, but dead inside. That ain't you. Neither of you."

Larry and Raya looked at one another. Jedediah was right. Neither one of them really belonged where they currently were.

"And hey, I'll tell you another thing."

"Yeah?"

"This night ain't over yet. This little Midnight Cowboy's got some fight left in him. Something tells me you both do, too. Ho, now!"

Raya smiled at Larry. They were not about to let Kahmunrah win. Not after everything they had gone through to keep him from winning.


	20. Battle of the Smithsonian

The Gate cracked and the sarcophagus on the front jutted forward a little as the door opened up. Raya struggled again, but the gangsters kept a tight grip on her arms.

"Welcome to the new extended reign of Kahmunrah, Fifth King of Egypt, and now the world! Horus, Ra, my warriors, come forth!" Soldiers with the head of a bird came through the gate and screeched at them. "Send Larry Daley and his friends to their doom! But leave the girl! She is your future queen!"

A ton of the bird-soldiers came through the gate and surrounded Larry. Kahmunrah shouted a command in Egyptian and they aimed their spears at him.

"Halt!"

Everyone turned to find Octavius at the broken window.

"The mighty Octavius has returned! I ride on the back of nature's most fearsome creature! I ride the squirrel! Forward now, my mighty steed!" He galloped forward on the squirrel and stopped at Kahmunrah's feet. "Whoa, girl! Easy. Do you wish to surrender honorably? Or must this end with the spilling of your blood?"

Kahmunrah looked up at Larry in disbelief. "This? This is your big rescue?"

"Oh, no," Octavius answered for him. "This is!"

The statue of Abraham Lincoln suddenly burst into the room. The gangsters holding Raya were so freaked out by him that they released her and ran for cover.

"What is that thing?" Kahmunrah asked.

"The name is Abraham Lincoln," the statue answered. "And you, sir, are in a heap of trouble!"

"Attack it!" He began shouting Egyptian orders, but the bird-soldiers did nothing. Kahmunrah rolled his eyes and cawed at them.

The bird-soldiers threw their spears at Lincoln, but none of them did any damage.

"Disgusting half-pigeons!" Lincoln muttered.

He leaned down and tossed at least five of them in several different directions. The other bird-soldiers got so scared that they all ran back inside the Gate.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Kahmunrah exclaimed. "Hello?"

"Adios, bird brains!" Jedediah yelled.

"Wait, wait, wait. No, no!"

"Goodbye, strange birdmen," Lincoln said politely.

"Do not return to the Underworld!"

"Yes, yes, do go back into the Underworld!" Octavius smiled from atop the squirrel. "Thank you for coming! Good night!"

"No, no!"

The last bird-soldier slammed the door to the Gate and the sarcophagus sank back into it.

"Oh…this is awkward."

"It appears my work here is done," Lincoln announced. "Just remember, son, a house divided against itself cannot stand."

"Thanks, Mr. Lincoln!" Raya called.

"Farewell." He left the Castle the way he had come.

"What now?" Ivan asked Kahmunrah.

"You know, I'm not quite sure," Kahmunrah answered. "I suppose we should probably start by watching him die."

"Streltsy! Make him dead!"

A bugle sounded behind them.

"Oh, now what?" Kahmunrah whined.

Custer stood in the back of the room with an army of exhibits from both museums. "We are not going to attack right NOW!"

All of the exhibits let out a battle cry as they held up their fists and weapons. Then they rushed forward.

"Get them!" Kahmunrah screamed.

A battle between the good exhibits and the bad exhibits broke out in the middle of the Smithsonian Castle. Raya ran over to Larry.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked her.

"Thank you for saving me from marrying that guy," she sighed.

"Any time."

Someone bumped into Larry causing him to drop the hourglass. It rolled to the side and he bounded after it. Unfortunately, another exhibit bumped it again.

"Fear not, Larry!" Octavius called. "I will help Jedediah! You both come at them from behind!"

Larry and Raya ran around the throne Kahmunrah had built for himself. There, they found General Custer cowering behind it.

"Hey, what's going on?" Larry asked.

"I'm hiding," Custer answered.

"Hiding? What are you doing? Come on, we need you."

"I'm a failure."

"Hey, no, you're not," Larry told him as he and Raya got down to his eye level.

"Did you foolishly lead 208 Americans to their death at the Battle of Little Bighorn?"

"…No."

"No? Not good. Not good at all."

"That's not good."

"Sure, I talk a good game, but the truth of the matter is I don't deserve these stars. I will always be famous for my biggest failure."

"We all make mistakes," Raya said. "Some bigger than others, but we all make them. It's our choice whether we let those mistakes define us or not."

"Hey, Raya's right," Larry told the general. "The past is the past, okay? Right now, this moment, this night, this is what you're gonna be remembered for. This is your last stand."

The three of them looked out at the fighting exhibits and saw that the good guys were quickly losing ground.

"They need a leader," Custer stated.

"Yeah, they need a leader. You wanna do that? Yeah? You want to be their leader, huh?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Let's do this! All right?"

"Yeah. Let's go! Yee-haw!"

Larry and Raya ran back into the fighting and ended up running into Able.

"Hey, Able!" Larry said. Able chittered something happily. "Oh, great."

Dexter came up to them and started chittering something to Able, and then the two of them started arguing in their monkey language.

"Guys!" Larry interrupted. "Hey, guys! This is not the time to get into this, all right?"

Both of the monkeys slapped him.

"Uh-oh," Raya muttered.

"Dexter, you know better," Larry said to the monkey.

Dexter just slapped him again. Larry slapped him back.

"All right? That's what happens when you do that!" He slapped Able. "You get that."

Dexter, Able, and Larry all ended up slapping each other several times.

"Really, Larry?" Raya sighed.

"Stop!" Larry yelled. "Just stop! Stop! Now, listen. You're both proud capuchins! You need to concentrate on slapping the enemy!" They both slapped him again. After a pause, he slapped them both. "Keep it together, all right? Come on, let's go! Let's do it!"

The two of them went back to the battle. Larry looked over at the Gate.

"We need to get the tablet," he told Raya.

Larry motioned for Amelia to go over to the Gate. Raya ran over to the Gate and snatched the tablet from the impression. Then she and Larry ran behind the Gate and met up with Amelia.

"Are you alright?" Larry asked.

"Never better," she smiled.

"Listen, when I give you the signal, I want you to open the Gate."

"I take it you have a plan."

"We're gonna divide the house."

Larry and Raya ran back around with Raya still clutching the tablet and ended up running into Napoleon, Ivan, and Al Capone.

"The tablet! Now!" Ivan demanded.

"Okay, sure, you can have it," Larry said as they began backing the two of them up against the wall. "Just tell us who the boss is, and we'll give it to you. Or should we give it to Kahmunrah? He's your master, right?"

" _Nyet_! He is not our master!"

"Really? 'Cause he acts like he's your master. But fine, just tell us who the boss is and you can have it."

"Hey!" Al Capone said as he snapped his fingers. "That'd be me."

Ivan pushed his hand away. "This man is a peasant! I am the only one here of noble birth!"

"Really?" Larry asked looking at Napoleon. "'Cause he's got more medals and a bigger hat, but…"

"Thank you," Napoleon said as he reached for the tablet.

Al Capone slapped his hand away. "Hey! You might got a lot of medals, but you put one of your little child hands on that tablet again, it'll be the last thing them tiny little mitts of yours ever touch."

Ivan hit Al Capone on the chest. "Why would you touch little Nippy?"

Napoleon started babbling in French. "I can handle this, okay?"

"You can handle nothing! You can barely speak, you fool!"

"You know what? No problem." Al Capone smacked Ivan to the ground. "I'll give it to you." He then slapped Napoleon on the face. "You see that?"

Napoleon jumped onto Al Capone and they started wrestling each other on the floor.

"Genius," Raya laughed.

They both started running back to the battle when Kahmunrah pushed his khopesh against Larry's chest. Raya clutched the tablet closer to her and backed away. The fighting around them began to cease as everyone turned to watch Larry and Kahmunrah's confrontation.

"Very clever, Mr. Daley," Kahmunrah said, "getting them to fight amongst themselves."

"Yeah. I can't really take credit. It was Abraham Lincoln's idea. You know, a house divided can't…doesn't do well."

"Yes, well, you should have saved yourself when you had the chance."

He raised his khopesh and brought it down to strike Larry, but Larry snagged the flashlight from his belt and blocked the khopesh from hitting him.

"Because now I shall have the tremendous pleasure of killing you myself!"

As Larry and Kahmunrah battled each other with a khopesh and flashlight, Raya went over and tossed the tablet to Amelia. Amelia quickly put the tablet into the impression again and turned all of the pieces so that the tablet was whole.

Kahmunrah flipped Larry's flashlight out of his hands and sent it flying. While Larry tried his best to not get sliced by Kahmunrah's khopesh, Raya ran and retrieved the flashlight. She tossed it to Larry, and he quickly turned it on and shined it in Kahmunrah's face just as he was about to bring his khopesh down.

Larry kicked Kahmunrah in the face and then nodded to Amelia. She nodded back and flipped the final piece.

Kahmunrah and Larry continued to fight until Larry got the upper hand. He grabbed Kahmunrah's arm and used his flashlight to hit his hand causing him to drop his khopesh. Then he turned around and pressed his flashlight up against the back of his neck.

"What are you?" Kahmunrah asked quietly.

"I'm the night guard," Larry answered. He looked over at Raya and motioned with his head for her to come over.

She walked up to Kahmunrah and smiled coyly. "You say I'm in love with Ahkmenrah? Fine. This is for killing the man I love and trying to force me to marry you."

Amelia opened the gate and Raya and Larry pushed Kahmunrah through it.

"No!"

Kahmunrah was pushed into the Underworld where he turned into dust.

Larry and Raya high-fived each other as Amelia closed the Gate. Everyone cheered behind them and came up to hug them both.

"I'd say somebody found his moxie," Amelia smiled.

Larry looked over at Raya. "We both did."

Raya smiled back at him. It felt good to be back with her old friends again, working together to defeat the bad guy.

"The Battle of the Smithsonian," General Custer stated. "Perhaps the greatest battle the world will never know."

"We'll know," Larry said. "Yeah." He quickly looked at his watch. "Oh, man, we got an hour till sunrise. We got to get you guys back."

"In case you forgot, Gigantor, they don't want us there anymore," Jedediah told him.

"Well, we do." He looked over at Amelia. "Hey, think you could hook us up with a ride?"

Amelia smiled. "My pleasure, of course."

"Hang on a second. One last thing we got to take care of." Larry and Raya led the octopus out to the Reflection Pool. "Come on, boy! Come on, come on! Get in there!"

With a squeal, the octopus happily hopped into the Pool.

"Feels good, right? You're welcome! Just get back inside by sunrise, okay?"

Everyone crammed into Amelia's red plane and took off back to New York. She landed right in front of the Museum of Natural History.

"All right. Hey, come on, guys," Larry said as everyone hopped out. "Remember, stay with your buddy, all right?"

All of the exhibits eagerly ran back inside their real home.

"Dexter, you give that tablet back to Ahkmenrah, you hear?" Raya called.

Amelia exited the plane last. "Well, you're both back where you belong."

"Yeah," Larry smiled. "Think so."

They smiled awkwardly at one another before Amelia said, "I guess I should be going."

"Hey, Amelia. That thing that I was trying to tell you about earlier…There's not really an easy way to put this, but, in the morning…"

"I know what's coming, Mr. Daley. I've always known. But it doesn't matter. You've given me the adventure of a lifetime in one night. And I have a feeling it's going to be a beautiful sunrise." She hugged him tightly. "Have fun."

They shared another kiss which Raya would argue was much better than the others since it wasn't so forced.

Amelia smiled and hopped back into her plane. Raya came over to Larry. He put his arm around her shoulders as they both waved good-bye.

"I'd make fun of you for falling for a museum exhibit, but apparently…I'm in the same boat," Raya said.

Jedediah and Octavius poked their heads out of Larry's pockets.

"There she goes," Octavius said.

"Straight towards…" Jedediah started.

"Canada," Larry finished. "She's heading to Canada."

The plane turned around. "No, now she course-corrected."

The two former night guards headed up into the museum. Larry placed the two miniatures on the ground. "Here, head on downstairs, guys."

"All righty."

"Good night, Larry."

"Hey, boy, how's it going?" Larry greeted to an excited Rexy.

"Lawrence! Raya!" Teddy exclaimed as he finished bidding good-bye to Sakagawea. "Bless you both for bringing them back. And might I say, a hearty well-done is in order. And may I also point out, they cannot hide in the basement forever."

"Yeah. No, I think I got that figured out."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Sun come, dum-dums," the Easter Island head announced.

"Our moai friend is right," Teddy sighed. "The dawn will soon be upon us."

"Hey, Teddy," Larry said to his friend. "Remember the other night you were saying something about the key to happiness?"

"Did I?"

"Yeah, you said, 'The key to happiness is…' And then the sun came up and you froze? I think I got it figured out."

"Yes?"

"It's doing what you love, isn't it? With people you love."

"Actually, I was going to say 'physical exercise', but the love thing's good, too." Teddy mounted onto Texas. "Lawrence! Raya!" The two of them turned to him. "Welcome home, my friends."

"Thanks."

The sun rose and the life inside the museum stilled.

"Okay, remember how I said that our first night working here was the longest night of my life?" Raya asked. "I take it back. _This_ was the longest night of my life. I am going back to my apartment and crashing for the next several hours."

"Come on, you can't miss two days of classes."

"I'm exhausted. Besides…it won't really matter in the long run…"

"Why's that?"

"I'm going to be making some changes in my college life."


	21. Confessing Her Love

Raya put on some jeans, a large graphic t-shirt, and a pair of combat boots, and headed over to the Museum of Natural History for its grand reopening…that included new night hours.

"Larry!" she called as she stepped inside. She came over and hugged him. "Nice to see the uniform again."

"We need to get yours back."

"Yeah, that's the main reason why I'm here. I needed to talk to Dr. McPhee."

As if on cue, Dr. McPhee came up behind them. "Well, well, well, well, well, well!"

"Hey," Larry smiled.

"I see the uniform still fits after these long, long years."

"Yeah, yeah. Really hasn't been that long, but…"

"So, to what do we owe this 'triumphant' return? Not cut out for the 'corporate' jungle after all? Got fired?"

"No, actually, I sold my company."

"The world doth move in mysterious ways. One day, we've got to get rid of everything old. The next, a rich, anonymous donor gives a huge endowment. With a proviso: everything stays the same."

Raya looked over at Larry with a smile. She had no idea that that was what was up his sleeve that night they returned from D.C.

"Well, not exactly the same, obviously."

"No."

"Speaking of, Dr. McPhee," Raya said, "I wanted to ask you something. I'd like a job here."

"You mean, a job job?"

Raya laughed lightly. "I mean I want to do everything I did during my internship except full-time and with pay."

"Well, luckily for you, that was one of the conditions of the donor."

"Was it now?" Raya asked, looking over at Larry with a smile.

"Come on back to my office, and we'll get the paperwork filled out so you can start tomorrow night."

Raya smiled at Larry. "Thank you."

"It's good to be back, isn't it?"

"Most definitely."

Raya started walking around the museum to see her friends walking around the place talking to all the kids in attendance. She watched Attila talk to a group of children, and though the kids had absolutely no idea what he was saying, they were still entertained by his storytelling as they sat amongst his soldiers. She smiled as she walked over to where Ahkmenrah was giving a presentation with Dexter who was holding up his tablet.

"My parents gave me this tablet some 3,000 years ago, entrusting me with one of my people's most prized possessions," he explained.

"Does it do anything?" a little girl asked him.

"Do anything?"

"Yeah," another girl answered. "What's the point if it doesn't do anything?"

Ahkmenrah looked at Dexter with a smile. "Actually, it has a magical power that brings all the exhibits to life."

"No, really, what's it do?"

Ahkmenrah gave the little girl one of the most disappointed looks Raya had ever seen on someone. "Nothing. It's just for decoration."

Raya laughed and walked up to him as the group in front of him dispersed. "Kids today just don't believe in magic."

Ahkmenrah looked at her and smiled. "There's the smile I've missed so much. It's good to see you back, Raya."

"Hey, uh, after closing time…we should talk."

She smiled as she went to go to Dr. McPhee's office to make her job official.

"Uh-oh, boy," Jedediah remarked as he flew his new plane over to the pharaoh. "Whenever a woman says she wants to talk, it's always something serious. You better watch out."

Ahkmenrah rolled his eyes and smiled at the small cowboy, but he couldn't help but feel a little nervous at his words. If that was true, what exactly did Raya want to talk about?

Closing time couldn't come soon enough for both of them. When the last occupant of the museum finally left, Raya and Ahkmenrah began walking the halls like they usually did until they reached his tomb. She had so much she wanted to tell him and had trouble figuring out where to start.

"So, I got a job here," she finally said.

"You mean a real job?"

"Yes, a real job. I'll be working here with Larry almost every night from now on." Raya sighed heavily. "Uh…you were right. About my major. I wasn't happy. In fact, I was miserable. I realized that I was only doing what my mom wanted me to do, not what I wanted to do. So…I changed my major. I'm going to be a writer."

"Really?" Ahkmenrah smiled. "How did your mother take that?"

"She all but disowned me. I think the people in Canada could hear her yelling. But I don't regret my decision. I've signed up for late classes so I get a chance to sleep after work, and I'll be able to do almost all of my homework here while I'm working."

"That is wonderful news."

Now Raya knew it was time for the hard part. "Um…you've probably heard from the other exhibits by now, but we met your brother over at the Smithsonian. You guys are really, really different."

The smile disappeared from his face. "Yes…we are."

"Uh…he told me how you died."

Ahkmenrah looked at her and sighed deeply. "I guess you understand then why I never brought him up in conversation."

"Yeah…"

"It's funny. We used to be wonderful friends. Tensions were always high, but deep down, we both knew that we loved one another. But that all changed on the day it was announced that I was to be heir to the throne. Ever since that day, he lost himself in his hatred for me and our parents. He had such a thirst for power that he couldn't control. I tried so hard to reconnect with him, but it was useless. Not long after our parents died, he said he wanted to speak with me privately. I hoped that he was finally going to reconcile with me…but the next thing I knew, he was sticking a knife into my back."

"I'm so, so sorry. I…can't even imagine." Raya took a deep breath. Now came the really hard part. "Um…he may be an evil pharaoh who wanted to take over the world, but he did say one thing. He said that…I'm in love with you. And…I don't think he was wrong. I have fallen in love with you, Ahkmenrah."

Ahkmenrah smiled broadly as he placed his hand on her cheek. "And I you, Raya."

"Really?"

"Yes." There was a pause before he asked, "May I…kiss you?"

Raya smiled. "You don't even have to ask."

And after so long, Raya and Ahkmenrah finally kissed. Raya's arms went around his neck to pull him closer to her as his hands gripped her waist.

They pulled apart and smiled at one another before kissing again. Her hands rested on his arms while his gently pulled her closer to him. Their lips moved perfectly with one another as all thoughts left their minds.

"Whoo! Get it, Gigantess!" Jedediah yelled from the remote-control plane.

"Jed!" Raya exclaimed. "Haven't you ever heard of privacy?"

"I gotta tell Octavius he owes me five bucks."

"You guys were _betting_ on us?"

"Yes. Oh, I also gotta tell Gigantor that he owes Rexy a new bone, Attila owes Columbus one of his hats, Teddy owes Sakagawea—"

"Hold it. Exactly how many of you guys were betting on this?"

"How many exhibits are there in the museum?"

Raya scoffed as Jedediah flew off. She turned back to Ahkmenrah. "Kiss me again."

Raya and Ahkmenrah stood there in his tomb kissing each other passionately. They never left the other's side until sunrise.


	22. Spending Time Together

Raya smiled as Ahkmenrah awoke from his sarcophagus. "Come on," she said as she took his hand. "The others have planned a little surprise for us."

She led him down to the locker room. When she opened the door, a small table was in the center of the room with two lit candles on it and two place settings.

"They wanted to serve us dinner. We get to have our first real date."

Ahkmenrah smiled at the wonderful sight. He went over to the table, and like a gentleman, pulled Raya's seat out for her before sitting down himself.

Teddy and Sakagawea came into the room and set out some covered dishes for them. Then Dexter scampered in and hopped onto the table before removing each of the lids.

"Thank you, Dex," Raya smiled.

"Enjoy your meal, my friends," Teddy said to them.

The three of them left the room to let the couple have their dinner.

"This is perfect," Raya remarked.

"It is more than perfect," Ahkmenrah added. "It is better than anything I could have imagined."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They gently kissed before beginning to eat.

* * *

"Changing my major was the best decision I ever made," Raya said as she and Ahkmenrah walked the halls. "It's hard, but I love my classes."

"I can tell. You are much happier than you were before."

"Well, not having to constantly go to business dinners has been a relief. And thank goodness I don't have to wear heels anymore. You know, come to think of it, I never did get my shoes from the Smithsonian…"

"You were barefoot?"

"Do you have any idea how hard is to run for your life in high heels?"

"I cannot say that I do."

"It's not easy. I ditched them early on. Never got them back. To be honest, I don't really care. I never really liked those shoes."

Raya swallowed thickly as a wave of nausea suddenly crashed over her.

"Raya, are you alright?" Ahkmenrah asked, noticing how pale she had become.

"I…I don't feel so good."

Raya quickly ran off, and Ahkmenrah followed after her, concerned for her health. He stopped for a second when she entered the girls' bathroom, but then decided to go in anyway since he was fairly certain no one else would be in the room at this time.

He went into one of the stalls where Raya had thrown off her uniform jacket and was throwing up into the toilet. He quickly went over to her and held back her hair for her as he gently rubbed circles on her back.

After a couple minutes, Raya sat back, her whole face white.

"I'm so sorry you have to see this," she apologized weakly.

"What kind of person would I be if I only loved you when you are well?"

Another wave of nausea washed over Raya, and she leaned over the toilet again and resumed throwing up. Ahkmenrah once more held her hair up. When she sat back, he couldn't believe that she was even paler.

He put his hand to her forehead. "You are burning up. You need to return home immediately."

Raya nodded, but she couldn't make herself stand up. Ahkmenrah seemed to sense this and gently hefted her up into his arms.

"If you feel like you are about to be sick again, please let me know," he said.

She smiled weakly as he carried her down to the lobby.

"Larry!" he called.

"Whoa, hey, what happened?"

"She is ill. Would it be alright if I take her home?"

"Uh, yeah. Just make sure you're back in three hours, or else we're all in trouble."

"Of course."

"Hey," Raya said. "You might wanna lose the crown first."

Ahkmenrah chuckled lightly. He went into the locker room and placed Raya on the couch. Then he took off his crown and removed his cape. Not wanting to waste time changing his whole outfit, he settled for that and picked up Raya again. Larry had called a cab for them and it was currently waiting for them outside the museum. Raya gave the driver her address and he quickly rode to her apartment building. Once they arrived, Ahkmenrah helped Raya out of the cab and into her apartment.

"Can I do anything to help you?" Ahkmenrah asked.

"I'm going to change, but if you could just get me some water and some Tylenol from the bathroom, that would be great."

Raya went to her room to change into some sweatpants and a loose t-shirt.

"You need to get back," she said when she came out.

"I have still got some time. I must make sure you are comfortable first. I got you the medicine you asked for."

He handed her two tablets and a glass of water. She quickly downed the pills and finished off the glass.

"Get some rest now," he said gently.

"Lock the door behind you?"

Ahkmenrah placed a soft kiss to her forehead before leaving her apartment. Raya got into bed…after placing a trashcan next to it, just in case.

* * *

A few weeks later, Raya was lying on her sofa watching TV in a stereotypical college student fashion. Her hair was high up in a bun with a headband on to keep the loose pieces out of her face. She was wearing her lounge clothes and eating some chips, procrastinating on homework.

The doorbell rang and she slowly got up from the couch to answer it. When she looked through the peephole, she couldn't believe who she saw.

She quickly opened the door. "What are you doing here?!" she asked frantically.

There stood Ahkmenrah wearing the same outfit he had worn when they had gone to the fair together a few years ago. She quickly pulled him inside her apartment and locked the door behind him.

"When you didn't show tonight, I was worried about you."

"Larry was supposed to tell you. It's just my night off. When I got sick, Dr. McPhee decided that Larry and I both needed to start having nights off. Working all night every night can take a toll on the body." She went over to her purse and began pulling out some change. "I'll give you some cab fare so you can get back to the museum."

"Raya, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. You just can't be here."

"We have left the museum together before."

"That was different."

"Why?"

"It just was!"

He gently grasped her shoulders. "Raya, what is the matter?"

Raya sighed. "I'm waiting for inspiration to hit. Can't you tell?"

"What do you mean?"

"We both know my mom isn't happy about me changing majors. I thought if I could just prove to her that this is a good idea, she'd stop being mad at me. And the only way I can do that is if I write a book. But I am coming up blank on any idea I can write a whole novel about."

"You can draw inspiration from all around you. From everyday occurrences that you may think unimportant. Inspiration comes from experience."

Raya smiled a little. "Thanks." She walked over to the kitchen area. "I know you don't really need it, but as long as you're here, can I fix you something to eat? I've got hot dogs, pizza, some leftover pancakes from Denny's, I can make up a bowl of ice cream or something."

"No," Ahkmenrah smiled. "I am fine."

"Okay. Then you really need to get back before Larry kills both of us."

She handed him some money and he reluctantly left her apartment to return to the museum.

* * *

Ahkmenrah ended up going to Raya's apartment several more times as much as she and Larry tried to stop him. He always managed to find his way out of the museum and would walk there in his new clothes. Each time, Raya made sure that she saw him walk out the door with plenty of time to return to the museum before sunrise.

One night, the two of them were lying on Raya's bed watching the TV in her room.

Ahkmenrah looked over to find her asleep. She still looked so beautiful. He gently rubbed his hand against her cheek, feeling the softness graze against his fingertips.

He pulled the blankets overtop of her before quietly leaving her apartment.

Raya woke up the next morning and immediately panicked when she remembered falling asleep before Ahkmenrah left.

She quickly grabbed her cell phone and dialed Larry's number. "Larry?" she said frantically. "Please tell me Ahkmenrah made it back this morning."

"Relax, Raya, he's fine. He's up in his sarcophagus right now."

"Oh, thank goodness. Larry…you and I both know he can't keep doing this."

"I know. But what am I supposed to do?"

"There's one sure way that will keep him in the museum…"


	23. Huge Mistake

Raya approached Ahkmenrah in the museum that night. "Ahkmenrah, you can't keep coming to my apartment on my nights off."

"But we have such an enjoyable time together," he said. "And it is nice to finally be alone with you."

"I love that too, but it's too dangerous for you to keep coming. What if one night, my roommate catches you with me? How am I gonna explain you to her? Or what if one night, you don't make it back in time? It would kill me to lose you like that."

"It's okay, Raya. I've made it back every time so far."

"But what if next time, you end up falling asleep? Or you just lose track of time? Or on your way back, someone tries to attack you? This is New York after all. It's too dangerous. And if you try to leave again…Larry is going to lock you up in your sarcophagus for the rest of the night."

Ahkmenrah paused for a moment. "No. No, he wouldn't do that."

"Yes, he would. Because I told him to."

The pharaoh took a step back. "What?"

"I didn't know how else to make you understand!"

"So you would lock me away again?"

"I just had to make you see how dire this situation is."

"I am just proving my love for you, and you are punishing me for it? You would put me through my worst nightmare?"

"No, it's not like that." Ahkmenrah stormed away from her. "No. Ahkmenrah!"

It was too late. He was gone.

* * *

There was a knock on Raya's apartment door and when she answered it, Larry was standing there.

"Hey," he said awkwardly. "I, uh, I heard you guys got into a fight tonight. It was the sarcophagus thing, wasn't it?"

Raya nodded a little. "Larry, you should've seen the way he looked at me. It was like he had died all over again."

"What did you expect? He spent years locked up in that case. The last thing he wants is to be locked away again. I wouldn't be surprised if he has severe claustrophobia now."

Raya groaned and put her hand to her forehead. "Holy crap…I didn't even think of that…"

"And if we're being honest, I never was going to lock him up either."

Raya gave him a sad smile. "He said you wouldn't do it."

"Look, he loves you, okay?"

"I don't know anymore. Not after tonight…"

"He waited three years for you to admit you love him. If he can wait that long, I seriously doubt this is going to end the whole relationship."

"Really?"

"Just talk to him. Find out for yourself."

* * *

That night, Raya waited by Ahkmenrah's sarcophagus until the sun went down. When he awoke, he looked over at her with hard eyes. However, his face quickly looked at her with compassion instead when he noticed the tears in her own eyes.

"I am so sorry," she apologized. "I never should've told Larry to lock you up again. I was just scared that I might lose you and did the first thing that came to my mind. But it was stupid of me. And…I can understand if what I've done has made you stop loving me."

She began to leave the tomb when she felt his hand on hers. She turned to find him looking at her with a small smile on his face.

"Nothing could ever make me stop loving you."

He pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately on her soft lips.

* * *

Raya approached Ahkmenrah with a smile on her face. "Come on," she said as she extended her hand. "I have something to show you. Although, I recommend losing the crown and robe."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

He removed his crown and robe and left them near his sarcophagus, then followed her down to the loading dock. She smiled as she opened the door and motioned for him to walk out.

"I wasn't angry at you for wanting to spend time with me," she said as they walked away from the museum. "I was angry that you were being careless. Leaving the museum is no small thing. We both know the dangers. And you're forgetting that if something happens to you because you didn't make it back, I'm the one who's going to have to pay for it. I would have to deal with all the problems it would cause with Dr. McPhee, not to mention that I would lose the person I love. But if we plan certain outings and keep an eye on the time, i.e getting back before 2:30 at the latest, it's okay. That way, if something happens to us and we don't get back in time, Larry has plenty of time to come looking for us. I love spending time alone with you. Which is why the two of us are going to take a walk through Central Park together like a regular couple."

"Should I have worn more appropriate clothing then?"

"No. First of all, it's New York, so no one really cares. And second, I wanted you to be comfortable while we walked."

As they walked through Central Park together, Raya felt like a normal couple for the first time. She linked arms with him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"See, moments like this are perfect," Raya smiled. "Where we're alone, but we're close enough to the museum so we can get back soon."

The two of them walked all around the park talking and laughing together. Once 2:00 rolled around, Raya started slowly walking back to the museum.

There was a distant noise that easily could've been mistaken for an airplane had it not followed a small flash.

"Uh…you can get wet, can't you?" Raya asked.

"I think so. Why?"

"Because I think it's about to rain on us."

Sure enough, once they were out of the park and on the sidewalk, it started to pour as the flashes got brighter and the thunder got louder.

"Come on!" Raya cried as she grabbed Ahkmenrah's hand and began sprinting down the sidewalk.

The two of them laughed as they ran as fast as they could back to the museum. Once they made it in front of the entrance, they were both completely soaked from head to foot.

"I'm so sorry," Raya said with a small laugh. "I didn't even think about checking the weather. I had no idea it was supposed to storm tonight."

Ahkmenrah smiled as he looked at her. "It is amazing."

"What is?"

"How you can get caught in the rain and look just as beautiful as you always do."

Raya smiled as she blushed. "And you are just as handsome as ever."

She interlocked her fingers with his and kissed him passionately as the rain continued to pour from the sky.


	24. Special Effects?

It was a big night for everyone when the museum was holding a grand opening for the new Hayden Planetarium. There was a huge banquet with everyone of importance in attendance. Larry and Raya were running all over the place, trying to get all of the exhibits ready to show off to everyone who had come. As heads of the Night Program, they were responsible for giving everyone one heck of a show, especially since the chairwoman of the museum was there and Dr. McPhee had told them multiple times that she needed to be impressed.

Raya had changed into a dark red one-shoulder evening gown with black fabric revealed underneath a slit that started at her waist where there was a black sash. Black jewels and sequins sprinkled the bodice of the dress. Her hair was tightly curled up and pinned against her head while two lone curls rested on both of her cheeks. Larry looked especially dapper in his rented tuxedo.

Everyone was amped up, excited for the performance they were about to put on.

"Tonight gonna be fun-fun!" the Easter Island head boomed. "Here come dum-dums!"

Larry and Raya walked into the room and Sakagawea met up with them. "Hey, how we doing, Sak?" Larry asked nervously.

"Rexy is waxed and buffed," she told them as she looked at the clipboard in her hand. "Teddy is grooming his mustache. Oh, and I reviewed fire safety procedures with the primordial men. By the way, have you seen them lately? The museum has added a new one."

"What? No. Oh, and make sure the centurions stretch, all right? They really went for it in the dress rehearsal, and they're just not used to those kinds of dance moves." Sakagawea nodded and walked off. "Okay, everybody!" Larry called to the exhibits as they reached the lobby. "Everybody, listen up. I don't want to make anybody nervous, but the mayor and the governor are both out there. And, I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think Regis Philbin, too."

"Reeju Philbo?" Attila asked excitedly.

"Yeah, Reeju Philbo." The two of them went over to Rexy. "Okay, Rexy, do us a favor. Watch the tail, okay? There's gonna be open flame." He looked over to find Dexter on the bench stretching and putting chalk on his hands. "Oh, Dexter, how you doing, my man? All limbered up? Looking good. I like the tie. Got kind of a Chippendales thing going on. All chalked up, ready to go? Good." He turned around to the gathered exhibits again. "Okay, everybody relax and have fun, okay?"

"Larry. Raya."

The two of them looked over to find Ahkmenrah walking into the lobby with a grave expression on his face.

"You two better come see this."

Larry and Raya exchanged a confused glance before following him to his tomb. He showed them his tablet, and they noticed that the bottom of it had turned green.

"Have you ever seen it like this before?" Larry asked the pharaoh.

"Never," Ahkmenrah answered. "This corrosion has never happened before. It's always been exactly the same."

"I wonder what's up with it."

"I have no idea. And to be honest, my father knew the secrets of the tablet better than I did. Unfortunately, he swore he'd never reveal them. He never did."

The corrosion suddenly moved further up the tablet. In response, Ahkmenrah wavered a little, forcing Larry and Raya to put their hands on him before he fell.

"Whoa, hey, you okay?" Larry asked.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine."

"Okay. Just take it easy out there tonight, all right? You got 15 minutes till showtime. We're gonna figure this out tomorrow."

"All right."

Larry left the tomb as Ahkmenrah continued to look at the tablet.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Raya asked him. "Because you may have him fooled, but I'm not convinced."

"I'm all right, Raya. I promise."

"Okay. Well, good luck out there. You're gonna do great."

She gave him a quick kiss before she turned to leave the tomb.

"Raya!" Ahkmenrah called before she left. "You look absolutely marvelous this evening."

Raya smiled at him. "Thank you. I'll see you after the show."

She returned back down to the lobby in time to see Larry berating Jedediah and Octavius for messing around with YouTube videos again.

"Hey, Teddy, ready to roll?" he asked as they both walked up to the former president.

"Indeed, Lawrence," Teddy smiled from atop Texas.

"Great."

"Battle of San Juan Hill, cool as a cucumber. Right now, butterflies like you wouldn't believe."

"You'll be fine, Teddy," Raya smiled. "If anyone can wow these people, it's you."

"Thank you, my dear. Lawrence?"

"Yeah?" Larry said as he turned around.

"Have you seen the Neanderthals lately?"

"No. Why does everybody keep talking about this?"

"You may want to give it a look!"

Intrigued by what was going on, Larry and Raya walked over to the Neanderthal exhibit. Raya noticed that there was one more than usual. His back was currently turned to them.

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Larry asked.

The Neanderthals started grunting in excitement. The new one turned around, and Raya had to quickly put her hand to her mouth before she completely lost it.

The new Neanderthal looked exactly like Larry.

"Okay," Larry muttered. "All right, very funny. That's hilarious." The Neanderthal came down and began to walk over to him. "You don't have to come down. It's okay, really." By now, the Neanderthal was standing in front of him, eying him curiously. "Hi, how are you? I'm Larry."

"I'm Laaa…" the Neanderthal said slowly.

"You're 'Laaa'?"

"Laaa."

"Laaa. Okay, nice to meet you, Laaa. This is Raya. She works here with me. Welcome aboard, and—" Laaa began touching his face and then his own, comparing the two of them. "Yes, we look similar. Yeah, we look like each other, I know. It's a joke that somebody played. Dr. McPhee had you made to look like me. It's just a…and…" Laaa began to touch his face again, but Larry firmly slapped his hand away. "Stop it. Stop, okay?"

"Dada?" Laaa said softly.

"What?"

"Dada."

"No, not your Dada."

"Yeah, Dada."

"No. Stop."

"Dada!" Laaa yelled to the other Neanderthals.

They all began cheering and yelling 'Dada!' with Laaa. Raya was trying to hard not to laugh, but was failing miserably. This was fantastic.

"No!" Larry said quickly. "I'm not his—I'm not your Dada."

Laaa grabbed Larry in a bone-crushing hug, and finally Raya let loose her built-up laugh. Larry eyed her down, but she didn't really care.

"Dum-dum got a new son-son!" the Easter Island head said.

"No, he doesn't."

Larry released himself from the hug, and he and Raya quickly grabbed their walkie-talkies before hurrying to the banquet room.

"Larry, relax," Raya smiled. "Everything's going to be fine."

"I hope you're right."

They parted and went to their respective posts.

"Cue the music," Larry said over his walkie. "And Teddy in three, two…"

The large doors to the banquet hall opened and Teddy rode into the room on Texas. Everyone began cheering as the show started.

"Since 1869, when I was a mere boy of 11, this museum has been a shining beacon to our great city," Teddy said to the members of the audience. "Tonight, we'll expand our horizons even further to the sun, the moon, and the stars. From our very beginning, mankind has looked to the heavens and given names to what he saw. The constellations. I thought you might like to meet them."

"Cue the constellations," Larry said.

Sakagawea opened a door, and several constellations soared over the audience. Even though Raya had seen it all performed many times before, it was just as breathtaking even now.

"Orion, the hunter!" Teddy pointed out.

The constellation of Orion formed, and he pulled back the string on his bow. An apple made up of stars appeared on Dr. McPhee's head. Orion released his bow and the arrow hit the star-apple. He released another arrow towards the ceiling, and tons of stars floated down around the audience. Everyone began applauding in amazement.

"Everything's going great, Larry," Raya smiled over her walkie.

"Yep, going great, guys," Larry added. "Going great. All right. Let's drop the silks. And go with the monkey."

Two spotlights shone where Dexter began flipping down on two pieces of silk fabric like a professional acrobat. Slowly, Dexter lowered himself until his arms were parallel with the floor, a feat that was extremely difficult for anyone, much less a monkey.

"Yes!" Raya and Larry whispered.

"Thank you for your patronage," Teddy continued, "and for your unwavering support of this fine institution. This newly renovated planetarium will serve as a lens—"

Suddenly, Teddy began speaking complete gibberish as if he was glitching.

"'Once more unto the breach, dear friends'!" he yelled, quoting _Henry V_ like a robot running low on batteries.

"Uh, Larry?" Raya said into her walkie. "Something's wrong."

"Yeah, I gathered that, thanks," Larry answered. He ran out as Teddy jumped onto a table and began pointing his rifle at the audience members. "It's okay! Just hang on!" he yelled the audience. "Sorry folks, a little technical issue." He turned around to face Teddy who had his rifle pointed at him. "Teddy, what are you doing? Stick to the script."

"What?" Teddy asked.

"Stick to the script!"

"Huh?"

"It's me!"

"I don't know you."

Raya's eyes widened. Nothing like this has ever happened in the years they had worked here at the museum. Her head turned as the rest of the exhibits burst through the doors in a rampage.

Raya kicked off her heels, receiving flashbacks from her time at the Smithsonian, and ran over to Larry behind one of the tables.

"What's going on?" Dr. McPhee asked them both frantically. "Do something!"

Attila started obliterating the ice sculpture of a dolphin while the miniatures started tripping everyone with a string. Dexter rode into the room on a tiger, their newest addition, and grabbed a shish kebob from one of the waiters. He rode over to the chairwoman and held up the shish kebob like a spear. The poor woman started screaming in terror as Dexter screeched at her.

Larry ran over to him and took the shish kebob from him. "What are you doing?"

Dexter suddenly jumped on Larry's face and began attacking him. The Neanderthals began cheering wildly. Larry flung Dexter off his face and looked over to find Orion about to release another arrow.

"Orion, don't!" he yelled.

Orion released his arrow and it hit a table which quickly caught on fire. Teddy began to laugh like a maniac.

Suddenly, Rexy burst into the room.

"Rexy!" Larry called.

Rexy let out a loud roar, and everyone who was still in the room ran out in a panic. Raya began running around the place, trying to get everyone calmed down.

"Raya!"

Raya turned around, and before she could do anything, Rexy hit her with his tail and she went flying through the air before crashing into a table.

Attila ran over to her with his axe raised above his head. Raya flung her hands up to protect herself, despite knowing that the act was useless against an axe, when suddenly, Attila blinked a few times and lowered the weapon. He looked at Raya with confusion and then his eyes widened as he realized what he had been about to do.

Larry ran over to her and helped her up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright. Everyone!" he yelled. "Lobby! Now!"

The exhibits finally came to their senses and returned to the lobby steps. Raya limped into the room with her heels in her hand, her dress now with a massive rip in it and her hair in complete disarray.

"Guys, what was going on out there?" Larry asked everyone calmly. Laaa repeated his phrase in his own Neanderthal language. "Seriously, what were you thinking?" Again, Laaa repeated him. "Laaa, we got this, all right? Just…go over there." Laaa started walking towards him. "No, go over there. Go." Laaa went over to the other wall where the emergency defibrillator was hanging, and Larry turned back to everyone. "Attila…what were you doing to that dolphin, man? It's a dolphin! It's one of the most peaceful creatures on earth, and you're hacking into it like—like it was _The Cove_ or something."

Attila shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"Did you see the look on Regis Philbin's face?"

"Reeju?" Attila asked crestfallen.

"Yeah, man, Reeju. And Teddy, what were you doing pointing a gun at me?"

"Forgive me, Lawrence," Teddy said shamefully. "I don't know what came over me."

"Do you even remember that?"

"Not at all."

"Rexy, what happened?" Raya asked the dinosaur. "Why were you scaring all those people, huh? You sent me flying at least 15 feet. It's a miracle I didn't break anything. You're usually really careful with your tail, especially around me."

Rexy sank down like a sad puppy. Laaa began crying out in pain behind them. They turned to find him putting the defibrillator paddles to his chest.

"Laaa, shut that down!" Larry ordered. "It's a defibrillator. Put it down. It's dangerous!" He put the paddles to his ears and started convulsing again. "Laaa, that's electricity. Those aren't headphones. Stop it!" He looked up when he felt something hitting him. Something familiar… "Oh! Hey! Whoa! Dexter! What are you doing? Huh?" Dexter stuck his tongue out at him. "Honestly, if you're gonna act like a baby, then I'll get you some diapers. You want diapers again? Huh?"

The playful smile quickly disappeared from Dexter's face.

"Whoa, whoa, ease up on the reins there, hoss!" Jedediah called. "Can't you see? He feels terrible! We all do!"

"I don't know what's going on with everybody here, but tonight was really weird. Really weird."

"We feel awful, Larry," Octavius told him. "Something took hold of us like an evil spell!"

"Yeah, like—like we just weren't ourselves," Jedediah added.

Larry and Raya looked at one another. She pulled him over to where the other exhibits couldn't hear her. "Do you think this has to do with what's going on with the tablet?"

"What else could it be? I mean nothing like this ever happened until Ahk showed us the tablet tonight."

"If that's the case, we need to figure this out now."

"Agreed."

"Raya?"

Raya looked over to find Ahkmenrah walking towards her. "Hey," she said with a small smile as she limped over to him.

"Are you all right? What happened to you?"

"Apparently, your tablet corroding is affecting everyone. They all…lost themselves tonight. Teddy was pointing his gun at Larry, Rexy hit me with his tail, Attila nearly mauled me with his axe, Dexter almost stabbed the chairwoman—"

"I can't believe this. Are you hurt?"

"I think I have a couple bruises, but I'm okay."

"Are you sure? You're limping."

"Yes, Ahkmenrah, I'm fine. Really."

"If anything happened to you…"

"Nothing happened. We just had a bit of a scare. But we need to get your tablet fixed as soon as we can. I have a feeling if we don't, things are just going to get worse."

"Raya, the tablet has corroded even more."

"What?"

"And when the corrosion happened, I felt like…the life was being sucked right out of me. It was awful."

"That would explain why everyone went crazy at once. Okay. Larry and I are going to figure this out tomorrow. Right now, the both of us are going to go home, get some sleep, and then while you guys are all sleeping, we'll figure out what to do. I won't let anything happen to you, okay?"

"Stay safe, my love."

"Always."

Raya kissed him and then she gathered her belongings before returning to her apartment.

"Raya?" her roommate, Anna, called as she limped inside. "What the heck happened at the museum? It's all over the news!" Raya groaned as Anna walked over to her and finally got a good look at her roommate. "And what happened to you?"

"Technical difficulties. Major, major technical difficulties." She went over to the counter and set her purse down. "What are you still doing up?"

"Term paper."

"Ooh…"

Raya's phone began buzzing and she quickly answered it.

"Hello?" she said into the receiver as Anna went back to the TV.

"Ah, good, you're both on," Dr. McPhee said on the other end.

"Huh?"

"Hey, Raya," Larry's voice came across.

"Oh, boy…"

"How's it going?" Dr. McPhee asked.

"Okay," Larry answered.

"Good, good, good, good, good, good. You know that sound of when you're hiding in a trash bin fearing for your life because a Tyrannosaurus Rex is using it as a Hacky Sack?"

"No. We don't know that sound."

"You don't know that sound? Oh, hold on one second." Dr. McPhee began banging the phone against a trashcan and Raya winced at the loud noise as she pulled the phone away from her ear. "That's the sound! That's the sound! It will haunt my dreams!"

"I'm sorry. Look, really, I'm sorry. I swear to you, we had no idea this was going to happen."

"Oh! Oh! 'We had no idea it was gonna happen. We're only in charge of all the special effects.' It was your fault! They were your special effects!"

"No, we know."

"I'm really sorry, Dr. McPhee," Raya said. "Nothing like that has ever happened before in all the times we rehearsed the…special effects."

"That's a joke. 'Special effects'? More like 'special…defects'!" Dr. McPhee started laughing hysterically, and Raya briefly wondered if Rexy had caused the man to lose his mind. "Or they were 'special rejects'!"

"Look, we promise you, we're gonna find out what happened," Larry told him. "I'm sorry, Dr. McPhee. I gotta go."

Larry hung up and Raya followed suit, not wanting to be the only one on a phone call with Dr. McPhee.

"Who was that?" Anna asked.

"That was my boss…"

"Uh-oh."

"Yeah, he's not happy about how tonight went."

"What's the name of that guy you work with again?"

"Larry?"

"Yeah, Larry. I've just gotta know, do you have a thing for him?"

Raya laughed. "No. Larry's more like my protective older brother. Plus, he's got a son who's only six years younger than me. Besides, my heart belongs to someone else."

"Really? Who?"

"Well, uh…he's Egyptian."

"Ooh, foreign guy. Hot."

"He's the nicest guy you could ever meet, and he's constantly reminding me how much he loves me."

"Sounds like a winner. Will I ever get to meet him?"

"Um…maybe someday. Okay, well, I've had a really long night, so I'm gonna crash. Good night, Anna. Good luck with the term paper."

"Night, Raya!"


	25. An Old Acquaintance

Bright and early in the morning, Larry and Raya went to the Archives beneath the museum to see what they could do about the tablet and fix the damage. On the way, Larry decided to rant about his latest problems with Nicky.

"I want him to have fun after high school, but I think that he needs a good education at a good college. I know all about NYU from working with you all these years, and I think it would be great for him. And even if he didn't go there, I wouldn't mind. I just want him to do something."

"Look, Larry," Raya said. "A lot of my friends took a year off after they graduated from high school so they could figure out what they wanted to do with their lives. And trust me, it's a lot better than what I did, studying one thing for two years and then switching majors and having to start all over. I have to attend NYU for two additional years to finish my major. Why do you think Mom was so mad at me about switching?"

"I thought it because she wanted you to be a lawyer."

"Well, yeah…but the additional two years thing too."

They took the elevator down beneath the museum and saw an older woman at a desk playing Candy Crush on her computer.

"Hi," Larry said politely. "I'm Larry Daley. This is Raya Daniels. We're heads of the Night Program."

"I know who you both are," the woman said with a condescending tone. "You're the security guards."

"Yeah, also heads of the Night Program. We're doing some research, and we were wondering if you could help us out."

"Night guards doing research. Ooh la-la!"

"Yeah. We're just looking for anything that you might have on the Tablet of Ahkmenrah."

"Center aisle. Halfway down, stacks on your left."

The two of them made their way down to where the woman had indicated.

"Jeez," Raya murmured. "And I thought Dr. McPhee was annoying…"

Larry and Raya gathered up all the articles and journals they could find on the tablet and sat at one of the tables to examine everything. After searching through all the documents for at least an hour, neither of them had any luck finding anything that would fix whatever was going on with the tablet.

Larry looked at a picture of the five men and the one boy who had discovered the tablet years ago.

"So, what makes you two so curious about the tablet?" the woman asked as she joined them at the table.

"Oh! Just…Just a hobby, you know?" Larry answered. "Kind of an interest of ours." He looked down at the picture. "I wish we could talk to these guys."

"Well, you can't."

"Yeah."

"Because they're dead."

"Right." He handed her the picture and pointed to the boy. "But, look at that one. Looks like a kid?" The woman took the picture and rubbed her fingers over it fondly. Larry noticed the way she was looking at the photo. "You didn't know him, did you?"

"C.J. Fredericks. He worked here."

"He worked here?"

"Yeah, when he grew up."

"No."

"Yeah. He was a night guard. Same as you two."

"Wait a minute. C.J. C.J. Fredericks. Cecil Fredericks?"

"Sexiest night guard we ever had. Present company included."

Raya furrowed her eyebrows. _Ahkmenrah happens to think I'm very sexy_ , she thought to herself. For obvious reasons, she couldn't say that out loud.

"Boy, could that man move," the woman added.

Larry and Raya quickly put away all the documents and exited the museum.

"Cecil Fredericks?!" Raya exclaimed. "The guy who punched me in the face and tried to steal the items from the museum and then frame us for it? _He_ discovered the tablet back then?!"

"Apparently so. If anyone has the answers, it would be him."

They headed over to the nursing home where the three previous night guards currently resided.

"I can't believe I have to see this dirtbag again," Raya grumbled.

"Be nice," Larry gently berated her.

"Do I have to?"

"You wanna help Ahk?"

Raya looked away from him. "Yes," she admitted.

"Then be nice."

They walked into the nursing home, and they smiled a little when they saw Cecil dancing to _Shake Your Groove Thing_ with some of the older women. He moved pretty well for someone his age.

"Larry?" he called when he saw them. "Raya?"

"Hey, Cecil," Larry greeted.

Cecil came over and shook his hand. "My goodness, it's been years!"

"You look like you're doing pretty good."

"I've still got it, pal. What are you both doing here?"

"We need to talk to you about the tablet."

Reginald appeared pushing Gus in a wheelchair. "What the heck is Short Stack doing here?" he demanded.

"Hey, Gus," Larry said. "You're looking well. Reginald."

"Are you both here to frame us again? Send us back to the slammer?"

"We didn't frame you. You were actually stealing. And I was the one that got you out of jail, so…"

If it had been up to Raya, those three men would never have left that jail.

"We've got a nice life here," Cecil told the two night guards. "The past is the past. We've moved on."

Larry pointed to Gus. "I don't think this guy's moved on."

"Listen to him, monkey face," Gus told Larry.

"We've put all that tablet stuff behind us, guys," Reginald said to them.

"It's old news," Cecil added. "Besides, we really never knew anything about that old tablet. We just worked there."

"Something's up with it," Larry told him.

"I told you, I can't help you."

Larry pulled out the copy of the picture he had made and handed it to the old man. "Maybe this kid can."

Cecil took the picture and sighed deeply. "Maybe we'd better talk alone."

The three of them went to a greenhouse where residents could sit and talk or read at one of the several tables. Larry pulled up a chair for Raya and then sat down across from Cecil.

"Expedition like that is a pretty amazing thing for a 12-year-old boy," Cecil told them. "I tried to move on, but there was something about that tablet."

"It's turning green, like some sort of corrosion," Larry explained. "And something's happening to Teddy and Dexter, Jed and Octavius. They're all acting weird. It's like the green rust is affecting them."

"It's not just them," Raya put in. "Last night, everyone was acting weird. All of the exhibits. And Ahkmenrah mentioned that he was feeling…weak."

"'The end will come'," Cecil muttered.

"What?" Larry asked.

"The locals, they warned us. They begged us to leave that tomb alone. I thought it meant the end of the world. But maybe it meant the end…"

"End of the magic…"

"We should have listened. Should have listened. Instead, we shipped Ahk and the tablet off to New York and his folks to England."

"Wait. Wait, Ahkmenrah's parents are in England?"

"It was a joint expedition. Some of the artifacts stayed in Egypt. The rest was divided up between New York and the British Museum."

"Ahk said that his father knew the secrets of the tablet. I think we have to go talk to him."

"Thanks for speaking with us, Cecil," Raya said as they stood up.

"Of course," Cecil answered. "It's the least I could do after…"

"After you punched me in the face?"

"Raya, drop it," Larry said.

"Thanks anyway."

The two of them left the nursing home and began to walk back to the museum.

"So we're heading to London?" Raya clarified.

"It's the only way we can fix what's going on with the tablet. Looks like it's time for you to meet the parents."


	26. The British Museum

"I need you to listen to me," Larry begged Dr. McPhee as they stepped into his office.

"Ah, our esteemed chairwoman asked for my resignation," Dr. McPhee said bitterly. "She said since the Night Program was my brainchild that the buck starts and stops with me."

"We can fix it."

"How?"

"We need you to let us take the tablet and Ahkmenrah to London."

Dr. McPhee looked at him like he was crazy. "Sorry. I'm just processing that." He pressed his fingers to his temple and beeped as if he was a computer. "Input data analysis. I've just told you I'm being fired, and the first thing you ask is if I'd allow you to take some priceless artifacts away with you on holiday."

"Yes."

"No…"

"Please."

"…way, José."

"We're asking you to please go with us on this, please."

"Nah. Can't do it, dude." Larry sharply turned for the door. "Bye."

Instead of leaving, Larry just closed the door and then quickly walked back over to Dr. McPhee.

"Are you gonna mug me?" Dr. McPhee asked taking a quick step back.

"What?"

"I don't know. Just be prepared."

"No. I need you to listen to me."

"Oh."

"Okay?"

"Yep."

"Okay, you want to know the truth?"

"Go on."

Larry looked at Raya and she gave him a small nod. It was time for Dr. McPhee to know the secret of the museum. "Truth is, the tablet…the tablet is actually magic. Things really do come to life at night."

Dr. McPhee looked over at Raya in disbelief as if he expected her to tell him that Larry was lying.

"It's true," she confirmed.

"It's special effects," he told them.

"It's not special effects," Larry said. "How could it be special effects?"

"How could it not be special effects?"

"Because it isn't!"

"Of course it is!"

"I'm telling you, this is what happens."

"What?"

"Sun goes down, the tablet starts to glow, everything comes to life."

"Sure."

"It's real."

"'Tablet starts to glow.' Now I know you're both mental."

"Look, listen to me." Dr. McPhee jumped and cried out when Larry touched his arm. "I'm not gonna hurt you!"

"I know. Just…" He leaned onto his desk overdramatically. "What?"

"Listen, nobody cares about this place as much as we do, right?"

"Yeah."

"If you don't help us, everything that's special about it might stop, and it may never come back. I'm not asking you to understand, I'm just asking you to trust us."

"Look, Dr. McPhee," Raya said, "I wouldn't have come back to work here after my internship completed if everything didn't come to life. Otherwise, it would've been the most boring internship ever. No offense. But instead, my life changed because of this. And I can't go back now."

Dr. McPhee looked at the both of them and sighed. "I'd like to help you…but I don't even work here anymore."

Larry gently put his hand on him. "British Museum doesn't know that."

Dr. McPhee smiled a little and sat down at his desk. Then he reached for the phone and dialed up the British Museum. "The mummy and the tablet, both," he said into the receiver. "Classic conservation job under authority of me, of course, the director of this museum, which I still am…Yep, okay. Ciao." He hung up and looked at the night guards. "You're both in."

Raya and Larry smiled at each other. Time to grab Ahkmenrah and fix this whole mess.

* * *

"Nicky!" Raya smiled as she hugged the boy at the airport. "It's been so long since I've seen you. Goodness, you've gotten so big!"

"Hey, Raya," Nicky smiled back. "How are things with you and Ahk?"

"We're great. Oh, and Larry, don't even think about paying for my ticket this time. Now that I actually have a paying job at the museum, I can afford it."

"Suit yourself," Larry said.

Larry, Raya, and Nicky all got onto a plane and flew over to London. Raya was extremely antsy the whole time, knowing that in a few hours, she was going to be meeting Ahkmenrah's parents. She never thought that she was going to have to actually meet his parents (what with him being an exhibit and all), but all the same, she really, really wanted them to like her. It didn't help that the person she loved was on the verge of…dying, for lack of a better word.

"You know, I really could have just stayed by myself in New York," Nicky said to his father as they looked at the Thames.

"Yeah. No, that wasn't gonna happen," Larry told him. He looked out at the water. "Beautiful, huh?"

"Yeah."

"The River Thames. Isn't this cool, man, you, me and Raya in London? Huh?"

"Yeah."

The three of them began to walk down the street. "Hey, I've been thinking about that…year off."

"Yeah?"

"I think it could be cool."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. What are you thinking?"

"Yeah. Wow. I think I want to DJ in Ibiza."

"In Ibiza?"

"Ibiza, it's a small island off the coast of Spain."

"Do you speak Spanish?"

"No. But that's the beautiful thing. It's about the music. It's not inhibited by the language barrier."

"No, but you are. I mean, do you speak in beats?"

"Dad, why are you freaking out? You just said this was a really cool idea."

"I'm not freaking out. I just want to understand what the plan is."

" _You_ didn't go to college."

"Wait, now we're talking about not going to college at all?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"Nicky. Nicky. That's not—"

"Dad, you didn't go to college. You turned out fine."

"I turned out okay after about 20 years and a lot of dead ends. Raya, will you please tell him?"

Raya held her hands up in mock surrender. "Oh, no, I am staying out of this one. Consider me Switzerland."

"Whatever, man," Nicky grumbled. "Don't worry about me. It's fine."

"Hey," Larry said gently. "I'm always gonna worry about you. I'm your dad."

"Thanks." Nicky looked up at the sky. "Sun is going down. We should get going."

"All right."

Larry, Nicky, and Raya all hopped into the museum van that had Ahkmenrah in the back for transport. Then they drove up to the British Museum gates.

"Dad, what's the plan here, anyway?" Nicky asked.

"When the tablet brings Ahkmenrah to life, he's gonna sneak us in," Larry explained. "Now, get down."

"What?"

"Just get down! Come on, man. Part of the adventure."

Larry drove up to the loading dock gate where they had to speak with the woman in the booth. She smiled as she pulled back the window.

"Hello. Welcome to the British Museum. My name's Tilly."

"Hi. Thank you," Larry said. "I'm Larry Daley and this is Raya Daniels from Natural History, New York."

"Yeah, yeah."

"We got a delivery for your conservation department." He handed her a packet of all the necessary documents.

"All right! So they let you travel?"

"Well, this is kind of unusual."

"Well, they let me travel. You know where?"

"No."

"Home. Here. Home. Back here. Off to the toot-toot. Five-minute maximum."

Larry forced an awkward chuckle.

"So that must be well wicked being security guards in America."

"Uh…"

"With your gun, with a silencer, with your ninja swords."

"Right. That's not even a little bit true."

"The only thing that I got is this." She held up a hammer with disdain.

"Oh."

"Hammer! It's for, and I quote, 'minor repairs and beautifications' to the shack."

"Oh. You just hit things?"

Tilly hit the hammer against various parts of the shack in a rhythm. Nicky looked up at Raya in confusion, and she just discreetly shrugged her shoulders, careful to not let Tilly notice.

"Yeah, that's catchy," Larry said to her.

"Basically worthless."

"I can't believe we're actually still talking."

"It's great, though, innit?"

"It is."

"This is, like, the most conversation I've had in, like, the three years that I've worked here."

"We feel a connection, too. Is it cool if, uh, we just make our drop?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Wonderful."

"But I will have to confirm."

"Actually, that's not necessary because they've already confirmed it on the slip I gave you."

"Yeah, all right. Confirming." She sat down at her desk and picked up the phone as Raya rolled her eyes. This girl must've gotten zip human contact on this job. Why was it that the guards they ran into at other museums always were rather…unusual?

"Hello. This is Dr. McPhee," Dr. McPhee said over the speakerphone.

"It's the British Museum, sir. I'm just confirming a delivery to our conservation department."

"Yes, I signed the paperwork. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a museum to run. You, boy, get those grubby fingers off my Ming vase. See? Bye."

Raya and Larry looked at each other, knowing full well that Dr. McPhee was not in the museum at the current time since he had been fired and all. Tilly came back over to them.

"Good?" Larry asked.

"All right, you is legit."

"We is legit. Wonderful."

"Confirm it."

"Thank you."

"All right, I'll open the gate."

"Okay."

As they pulled in, Raya sighed heavily. "Is that what we would've been like had we not had the tablet?"

"Well, maybe not exactly like that since we had each other, but after a while…probably."

"Thank goodness for Ahkmenrah."

Larry turned the van around so the back was facing the loading dock. Then Tilly came around and helped him unload Ahkmenrah's crate from the back.

"Yeah, so, like, my boyfriend, he doesn't really like the way I do my hair. Says it looks like a golden poo sitting on my shoulder. But I really enjoy it."

"Mm-hmm," Larry said disinterestedly.

While Tilly was distracted inside the loading dock, Raya hopped into the driver's seat and Larry hid behind the corner of the building. Raya drove the van around and parked it on the street, then she tossed off her uniform jacket to reveal the nice deep red shirt she had on underneath and tied her straightened hair into a half ponytail.

"All right, do I look okay?" she asked Nicky.

"You look fine. Quit worrying, will you?"

"Yeah, okay, this Andrea you've got written on your arm? When you meet her parents, then come talk to me. At least they won't be freaking pharaohs!"

"Okay, I see your point."

She and Nicky went back to the gate. Luckily for them, Tilly was conked out in her shack.

Raya looked inside and saw the windows by the loading dock begin to glow, signaling that the tablet was activating.

Larry ran over to the gate and let Raya and Nicky through. Then they ran to the loading dock doors and Larry quickly knocked on it.

"I'm not an expert, but this is feeling just really against the law," Nicky whispered.

"No, they have like a totally different legal system here," Larry told him.

"I'm pretty sure that's not accurate," Raya whispered back.

Ahkmenrah opened the door and let the three of them in. Raya gave him a quick peck on the lips and closed the door behind her. He then put his arm around her shoulders as they walked forward.

"How we doing?" Larry asked the pharaoh.

"All clear," Ahkmenrah answered.

"All right, let's go."

"Larry, the others felt, perhaps, we could use some help."

"The others?"

Teddy suddenly popped out of the crate. "Lawrence, I couldn't sit idly by. Our very survival is at stake."

"All right. Hey, Teddy. Good. Good man to have in a crisis." Attila popped up next coughing out Styrofoam pellets. "Attila. Okay, a little muscle."

"Hi, Larry," Sakagawea smiled as she stood up.

"That is a deceptively large box."

"Obviously, we came along, too!" Octavius yelled from inside Attila's hat.

"You know you'd be lost without us, Gigantor!" Jedediah added.

"Are you serious?" Larry asked in disbelief. Dexter popped up. "And the monkey. All right, basically everyone." Just when Larry thought things couldn't get worse, Laaa shot up out of the crate.

"Dada!" he exclaimed.

"Oh! No, no! No possible benefit whatsoever!"

"He really wanted to come," Ahkmenrah admitted.

Laaa stared at Nicky angrily. "Yeah, this is my son, my actual son, Nicky."

"What's up?" Nicky said.

"Nicky, this is Laaa."

Nicky moved around a little and Laaa followed his movement. "He's just tracking me."

Laaa said something angrily in his Neanderthal tongue.

"Laaa," Larry said as if scolding a child.

"So, Lawrence what's the plan of attack?" Teddy asked as everyone stepped out of the crate.

"Uh, okay, we need to get to the Egyptian wing, find Ahk's father, and hopefully get the tablet fixed. All of us." Laaa smiled and fell down into the Styrofoam pellets. Larry looked in the crate and saw him eating the pellets. "Laaa, that's not for eating. That's not food. Don't…All right. You know what? I got a job for you. Come on, come on."

Laaa excitedly got out of the crate and smirked at Nicky. Then he purposefully bumped him on the shoulder before walking over to Larry.

Larry pressed his hands to the door, and Laaa mimicked the action. "I want you to stay here and watch this door, okay? Make sure nobody comes in or out. Okay? Good. You're gonna be a guard just like me. All right." He started to leave, but Laaa followed him. "No. Come here. Stay here, and put your hands on the door." Laaa obediently put his hands against the door. "Good, stay."

"Stay!"

"Good. That's right. You stay here."

"Stay here."

"Stay. Right." Again, when he left, Laaa followed him. Larry forced him to look at the door. "No. Stay."

"Stay!"

"Stay. Look there. Good. Stay." Laaa looked over at him, but Larry quickly told him, "No. Good. Stay. No. Stay."

"Stay!"

"Don't—Don't move. Don't move. No. Good. Okay." He started to move, but stopped to make sure Laaa wasn't following him. When Laaa didn't move, he finally walked over to the others. "Okay, listen up, guys. This place is waking up for the first time, and we have no idea what's out there, so stay together, all right?"

Ahkmenrah put the tablet into Nicky's bag, and everyone began venturing out into the British Museum to see what exhibits awaited them.


	27. Lancelot

As they walked through the darkened halls, Attila muttered something in his native language.

"I know it's spooky, big guy," Larry told him. "Just stay close."

They all walked into one of the rooms which held all the ancient sculptures. Everything was missing at least one limb, so they were all limping and crawling about in an extremely creepy fashion. It looked like something out of a horror movie. Raya unconsciously moved a bit closer to Ahkmenrah.

"What kind of haunted hootenanny is this, boys?" Jedediah asked quietly.

"We're all finding this super creepy, right?" Nicky added.

"They're just a little freaked out," Larry answered calmly.

"First time we came alive, it took some getting used to," Teddy told them.

Larry shined his flashlight at a sculpture of a centaur with no arms. "Hey, there. Just heading to Egypt. Come on. This way."

They continued walking down another hallway lined with various animal heads when they all heard a quiet roar and pounding footsteps.

"Hear that?" Larry asked, stopping the group.

"Hear what?" Nicky said.

A Triceratops skeleton came stomping forward and stopped at the end of the hall. "That."

"We'll just be down here if anyone needs us," Jedediah whispered from Attila's hat.

"We're not scared," Octavius added. "It's just more comfortable."

"Lawrence, I think it's safe to say that we're in a bit of trouble," Teddy said quietly.

"I know how to handle this guy," Larry told him. He went over to the wall and looked up at the head of a boar as he lifted up the bone from beneath it. "You mind?" The boar frantically shook its head. "Thanks."

"Dad, what are you doing?" Nicky asked.

"How do you think we tamed your pal, Rexy?" He turned and faced the Triceratops. "Hi, there. I bet you're not so mean, are you? Huh? I bet you're not so mean. No, you're just a little puppy, right? You're just a little puppy who wants to play. You want to play? Want to play fetch? Yeah?" Raya smiled as the skeleton began to wag its tail just like Rexy had done on their first night working together. "You want to play with this bone? Yeah! Here you go. Go fetch. Go fetch!"

Larry threw the bone and the Triceratops caught it in its mouth. Larry turned to Raya and smiled at her and she returned it with a wink. Unfortunately, their victory was short-lived when the Triceratops broke the bone and began gagging a little.

"Um…I think it only likes fetching its own bone," Raya said quietly.

"Lawrence?" Teddy said.

"Yeah?" Larry answered.

"May I suggest a different plan?"

"What?"

The Triceratops roared loudly.

"RUN!"

Everyone began booking it down the hall in order to escape from the now furious Triceratops. As they rounded a corner, the Triceratops slid into a glass display case, shattering it upon impact. The group all ran into a separate room through a set of double doors.

"Close it, close it!" Larry yelled.

Once everyone was in the room, he and Nicky quickly shut the door and slammed the lock down overtop of them.

"Okay," Larry breathed. "I think we're—"

He was cut off as the Triceratops slammed through the door ferociously.

"Get back! Everybody, get back!"

Ahkmenrah grabbed Raya and pushed her behind him as they all hid behind the pillars in the room.

Larry grabbed a mace from one of the displays. "All right. You don't want to fetch? Fetch on this!"

He slammed the mace onto the Triceratops's head, but it just ended up breaking clean in two. The Triceratops began ramming its head towards Larry as he got knocked against a figure of a knight.

"Oh! Oh! Oh, that's close!"

"Need some help?" the knight asked.

"What?"

"Move."

The knight pushed Larry out of the way and began hitting the Triceratops in the head with his sword. Then he knelt down and swept its feet out from under it, sending it crashing to the ground. It roared angrily as it stood up again and spun around. As a result, its tail came flying around and ended up sending Attila flying.

"Attila, you okay?" Larry asked he ran over to the Hun now lying on the ground.

He quickly jumped off the ground as the Triceratops's tail came flying back around. When he looked up, the tail was raised and about to crash down on them. He and Attila rolled out of the way just as the tail landed where they had been only seconds ago.

The knight ran up the wall and flipped over the skeleton as it crashed its head into the wall. He landed back down and started walking towards the group.

Larry stood up and looked at him. "You might want to, uh—"

"No!" the knight interrupted as he hit the tail with his sword. He handed the sword to Larry. "Here, hold this."

Larry took the sword and immediately dropped it because of its weight. The knight turned around as the Triceratops charged at him and punched it hard on the head. The Triceratops began whimpering and sulked out of the room just like a puppy.

"Okay, that was actually very cool," Nicky remarked.

The knight removed his helmet to reveal an attractive man with long blond hair and a bright smile. "Sir Lancelot, at your service."

"Thank you," Larry said as he handed him back his sword. "That was amazing."

Teddy came over to him and held out his hand. "Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America."

"I have no idea what that means," Lancelot said with a smile as he shook the man's hand.

"I'm Larry, and this is my son, Nick."

"You have a noble face, Nick."

"Thanks," Nicky smiled.

"Thanks for the help," Larry told Lancelot.

Lancelot looked over at Larry. "Now, you. You remind me of a man I once knew at Camelot."

Larry raised his eyebrows a little. "Really? One of the, uh, Knights of the Round Table?"

"No, Erik."

"Erik?"

"Our fool."

Raya met eyes with Ahkmenrah and both of them tried really hard not to laugh.

"He was the funniest fool I ever met," Lancelot continued. "He was so good, he didn't even have to do anything. He could just walk into a room and you'd laugh. You have what he had. The gift."

"That's weird."

"You could be a fool."

"I don't know about that."

"Oh, come on, of course you could! We'd get you one of those hats with the funny little dangly bells."

"Dangly bells?"

Lancelot started laughing. "'Dangly bells'. Didn't I tell you? The gift. He does what seems like—seems like nothing. A sort of deadpan…tiny little…'Hmm'. 'Hmm.' Expressionless, you know, sort of a…'Hmm. Hmm.' sort of thing. Just like Erik."

"Sounds like a great guy."

Lancelot looked over at Raya. "And who might you be, my lady?"

Raya smiled a little. "I'm Raya. I work with Larry in New York."

"New York?"

"It's where we live."

He slowly walked over to her and took her hand. "You are most beautiful, Raya. Your beauty could rival the fair Guinevere." He gently kissed her hand.

Raya laughed awkwardly and pulled her hand away from him. "This is Ahkmenrah," she said pointing to the pharaoh. "He's my…" She looked over at him, trying to find a suitable word to finish the sentence. "…boyfriend." It wasn't the best word to describe him in this unusual relationship, but it was all she had.

Ahkmenrah nodded towards Lancelot with a thin smile.

"Are they not all your boyfriends?" Lancelot asked.

"Excuse me?"

"They're boys. They're your friends. It's not that hard to figure out."

"Um, you know what, never mind."

"We got to get going," Larry said quickly as he motioned for everyone to leave. "So…"

"Camelot," Lancelot said as he looked into the distance.

"Okay," Larry sighed as they stopped again.

"Someday, I shall return to its mighty towers…to King Arthur…and Queen Guinevere. Sweet, beauteous Guinevere. But I'm sworn not to until I have completed my quest. I must find the Holy Grail."

"Well, good luck with that. And thanks for the help again. We got to get to Egypt, so we'll see you."

They took off again, but Lancelot quickly plowed ahead of them. "I will lead you."

"No, it's okay."

He stepped in front of Larry. "Halt, Dangly Bells! There is strange magic in the air, and dangerous beasts are afoot. It is the duty of a true knight to protect and care for those in need. Including the beautiful young maidens." He flashed a smile in Raya's direction. "We're off."

"I guess he's coming with us," Larry said to the others.

They started out of the room when Attila exclaimed, "Larry!" He said something urgently in his native language as he pointed to his hat.

"Jed and Octavius?"

"They must have fallen out while we were running," Teddy said worriedly.

"Jed?"

"Octavius!"

Everyone looked at the floor for the miniature figures, careful not to step on them. They all called Jedediah and Octavius's names as they examined every inch of the way they had come.

"Larry!" Raya exclaimed as she lightly hit him on the chest.

They all looked ahead of them and found a very small piece of red fabric blowing out of one of the vents.

"Oh, no," Larry muttered as he ran over to it.

"Is that Octavius's cape?" Nicky asked.

"Here." Larry handed the tablet to Ahkmenrah. "Nicky."

"Yeah."

He and Nicky took the grate off the vent. "Guys?" he called down. "Jed?"

"They won't last long in those heating vents, Lawrence," Teddy said.

"At their size, they'll bake like tiny little scarabs in the Sinai." Everyone looked over at Ahkmenrah in disbelief. "Too dark?"

"Little bit," Raya answered.

Larry ran over to the wall and slammed his elbow into the glass covering the controls. Then he turned off the heating and the fans in all the vents.

"Jedo! Octo!" Attila called down the vent. He looked back at the others and shrugged helplessly.

"They could be anywhere between here and the intake vent," Larry told them. Dexter climbed into the vent. "What do you see, Dex?"

"You know he's a monkey, Lawrence," Teddy remarked. "He can't talk."

Larry looked at him for a second before an idea hit him. "No, but he can fit. Nicky, give me your phone."

Nicky took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to his father. "Why?"

"For Dex."

"I don't understand one thing that's going on here," Lancelot said.

"Yeah, no, I don't, either. Dad, what's going on?"

"I'm, uh, sort of set up to track your phone," Larry said sheepishly to his son.

"You're sort of set up to track my phone? You track my phone?"

"Yeah, I'm your dad. I'm looking out for you."

"No. No. Hold up. 'Spying on' is not the same thing as just looking out for someone."

"You'll get it back, I promise. But right now, it's going on the monkey's back." Larry took a string from one of the broken exhibits. "All right. Dex, come here." Dexter came over to him so Larry could tie the phone around his back. "Thanks, man. All right, listen, I need you to go down there and find them, all right? Think you can handle it?" Dexter eagerly saluted him. "Good man. Stay safe."

Dexter jumped into the vent and began scurrying down the system to try and locate Jedediah and Octavius.

Larry pulled up an app on his phone in order to track Nicky's, and they all began following the blinking dot.

"I think it's right here," Larry muttered.

Lancelot started laughing again. "'Right here'," he mimicked Larry. "Classic. Ah, the gift of laughter. Thank you, Dangly Bells." Lancelot turned to look at Raya. "You say you work with this man?"

"That's right," Raya replied. "For a couple years now."

"Is he the fool where you work?"

"Uh…no. He's the guard."

"Really? But he would make such an excellent fool. He doesn't seem like he has the makings of a guard."

"You'd be surprised."

"How does such a fair maiden like you end up working with someone like him?"

"An internship."

"What is that?"

"Uh, like a job but I don't get money. I get credit for school."

"You take lessons _and_ work? My lady, it would be an honor to slay a dragon for you. I shall hope that one day, I may prove myself worthy of you."

Raya groaned softly as Lancelot pushed ahead of them. "First Kahmunrah, now Lancelot."

"What?" Ahkmenrah asked quickly.

Raya laughed awkwardly. "Whoops," she said under her breath. She looked over at Ahkmenrah. "Um…when we went to the Smithsonian, your brother may have tried to make me his wife."

"What?! Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I didn't want you to get worked up! I mean, nothing happened and none of that matters because I'm with you now. He only wanted to marry me because he saw that I loved you, and he wanted to take me away from you."

"That is just like my brother," he fumed.

"See? This is why I didn't tell you. You're getting all upset about something that didn't even happen. It's okay." She gently pressed her lips to his in a lingering kiss. "Better?"

Ahkmenrah smiled at her. "Better."


	28. Fight with Xiangliu

The group followed Larry into the Special Exhibitions room where various animals and creatures were walking or flying all around the large place.

"First quest?" Lancelot asked Larry.

"Uh, not exactly," Larry answered.

"I thought you were going to Egypt."

"We are, but we got to do this first."

"That's not how a quest works. A quest is one thing. It's not, like, 'Holy Grail and a monkey'."

"Yeah, well, my guys are missing and Dexter's gonna find them."

"What is the quest? Gold? Fountain of Youth?"

"Magic tablet. It's that thing Ahk is holding."

Lancelot turned around and looked at the tablet in Ahkmenrah's hand. "It shouldn't be too hard to take it from him. He seems well-toned and lean but weak. It would be like taking candy from a feeble Egyptian baby."

Raya furrowed her eyebrows in dismay. "I can hear you, you know. And he is not weak." She looked over and smiled at him, recalling the time he had carried her when she was sick several months ago. "He happens to be very strong."

Ahkmenrah smiled back at her and Raya felt butterflies flying around in her stomach just as much as the first time she had met him.

"Besides, we're not trying to take it, we're trying to fix it," Larry explained. "There's something wrong with it. It's kind of complicated."

"It might be less complicated if you stopped following a chimpanzee," Lancelot told him.

"He's not a chimpanzee, he's a capuchin."

Larry walked forward while Lancelot stopped them all. "The fool seems agitated," he said to Teddy.

"That's often his way," Teddy replied. "But I assure you, he's no fool."

"Is it true what he says? The tablet that you carry is magic?"

"It is, indeed," Ahkmenrah answered. "Everything around you has come to life tonight for the very first time all because of this tablet."

They all ducked as several birds flew over them. Raya smiled a little. Regardless of having been around living exhibits for several years, it still amazed her to see it all come to life, especially in a different museum with all new exhibits.

"Amazing. Then they're not real?" Lancelot asked.

"They're as real as any of us," Teddy said.

"Yes, but we're real people. They're just…things." Everyone looked at each other with small smirks. "And they don't even know. They must be unbelievably stupid."

Raya could not resist looking over at Ahkmenrah with a knowing smile. If only he knew what he was saying…

"It can be confusing at first," Teddy said, looking like he was trying not to laugh.

A small statue of a frog began hopping past the group.

"Hello, frog!" Lancelot said brightly. "Keep hopping! You're real!"

"Guys, I think we're gonna have to cut through Asia," Larry announced to the others as he looked at the phone.

Lancelot quickly plowed ahead again as Ahkmenrah came up next to Teddy.

"Not a clue," Teddy murmured.

"None."

"Think he'll ever figure it out?" Raya asked.

"Perhaps."

The group continued on through the Asian exhibits in order to find Jedediah and Octavius before they lost the signal. They were about to walk into one of the rooms when a small winged statue quickly came in front of them.

"Oh, hey, guy," Larry said. "We're just—We're just passing through."

"It's a Garuda from Tibet," Teddy explained.

"A Garuda? Okay. Hi, Garuda. How you doing?"

The Garuda started mimicking Larry in its own strange language.

"Cool, great." He started to walk forward, but the Garuda stopped him. Each time he tried to move to get into the room, the Garuda moved with him. "Okay. We just—You know what? We just got to get through. I don't have time. Please. Okay." He quickly moved back and forth, but it was no use. The Garuda always stood in his way. "You know what, I'm not gonna play this game with you. I got to go through. Really."

The Garuda pointed to the room and quickly shook its head. Larry furrowed his eyebrows and slowly approached the room to see what the Garuda was so freaked out about. When they got closer, they saw a huge stone snake that was sleeping as it was all coiled up around a rock.

"Get back," Larry whispered.

Lancelot and Nicky hid one on side of the entrance while the others hid on the other side.

"A dragon," Lancelot smiled.

"No, it's not a dragon. It's a…" He looked at the inscription next to him. "It's a Xiangliu."

"That sounds like something out of _Grimm_ ," Raya remarked. Everyone looked over at her for a few seconds. "TV show? Hexenbiest? Jinnamuru Xunte?" The rest of them continued to stare at her blankly. "Never mind."

"It's a mythical snake demon," Larry told them.

"It looks like a dragon," Lancelot said. "I say we kill it."

"What? No, it's asleep."

"You're right. It's not very sporting to kill it while it's asleep. Let's wake it up and then kill it. I shall go first, and I shall take the boy."

"What are you—No! You're not gonna take the boy."

"Why not?"

"Because he's a boy!"

"Larry, there comes a time in every man's life when he must slay his own dragon."

"Not this kid, all right? He still hasn't finished all his thank-you notes from his bar mitzvah. Anyway, that's just an expression."

"Not where I come from."

"He's not gonna slay his dragon right now. We're gonna go around it. We're gonna go around now, or else we're gonna lose the signal. Come on."

With Larry leading the way, everyone quietly walked into the room and used the sidewalk to inch past the Xiangliu without disturbing it from its sleep. They were halfway across when the tablet's corrosion inched even farther up.

Ahkmenrah fell over into Larry's arms, pain written all across his face. Raya quickly rushed over to him and put her hand to his face, gently stroking it.

"Hey, hey, hey," she said quickly. "It's okay. It's okay."

"'Ask not what your country can do for you'," Teddy blared.

"Shh!" Larry said. "Teddy, shh!"

"'Ask what you can do for your country'!"

"Teddy, shut up!" Raya whispered harshly to the president.

"Oh, there it goes again…"

Attila waved his hand in front of Sakagawea's face, but she had reverted to her wax form. The Xiangliu's head looked up, and Attila started screaming.

"Attila, shh!" Larry begged.

Raya looked back at Ahkmenrah as he cried out in pain again. "Hey! Hey. You're okay. Hey, hey, look at me. Look at me. Breathe, okay? Just breathe. Breathe. It's okay."

While Raya tried to talk Ahkmenrah down so he wasn't focusing on the horrid pain he was feeling, Attila latched onto Larry's feet in fear as he continued to scream. Raya looked over at the Xiangliu and found with horror that it had several heads, all of them angry at being woken up.

"Fantastic!" Lancelot exclaimed. "It's awake! Now we can kill it!"

He began to fend off the heads with his sword, hitting every one of them that came for him.

"Dad!" Nicky yelled.

Larry looked over to find one of the heads attacking his son. "Nicky!"

He tried to go to him, but one of the heads wrapped around his body.

"Larry!" Raya cried.

"I'll get the boy!" Lancelot yelled. He fought off the head attacking Nicky and then handed the boy a dagger. "Ever used a blade?"

"Only in _World of Warcraft_!" Nicky told him frantically.

"You're about to learn."

Nicky took the dagger and began to help Lancelot fight off the serpent heads. Meanwhile, Larry tried to grab his flashlight from his belt, but he couldn't reach it. He kicked it out with his foot and quickly caught it before hitting the serpent head. He fell to the ground as the serpent released him.

Ahkmenrah was still groaning in pain as Raya continued to stroke his face, doing anything she could to calm him down. Attila was latched onto the pharaoh practically sobbing in fear.

"'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself'!" Teddy exclaimed.

When they heard him speak, one of the serpent heads went straight for Teddy. Larry quickly ran over and jumped on the head before it could reach Teddy.

"'Doing a heck of a job, Brownie'."

One of the serpent heads came for Raya, but Larry managed to grab it just as it nicked her on the arm.

"Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho," Raya laughed angrily. "Oh, no. No one threatens me and the man I love. Especially not something that belongs in a TV show!"

Raya stood up and began fighting with one of the serpent heads. Doing some impressive kicks and turns, she managed to successfully fight off three of the serpent heads that were heading for Ahkmenrah.

One of the heads started to wrap around Larry, but he jumped out of the way before it could catch him. Then he jumped through the opening the head had made and tricked it into tying itself into a knot.

Lancelot flipped over Nicky and rammed one of the heads, enjoying himself just a little too much.

Raya ran back over to Ahkmenrah and continued stroking his face and telling him to breathe. Larry ran over to the wall and grabbed the emergency defibrillator off the wall. He tossed it onto his back and charged up the paddles. Then he ran back over to the Xiangliu and jumped on one of its heads before jumping up and heading for the main body of the mythical creature.

"Clear!" he yelled.

He landed on the body just as one of the heads was about to grab him and shocked the creature with many volts of electricity. All of the heads immediately went slack.

"These things really do save lives," Larry remarked.

The Garuda squealed as it reenacted what Larry had just done before walking off.

Raya looked back at Ahkmenrah who was finally returning to his normal state.

"Hey," she smiled. "Welcome back."

She helped him stand back up, careful to make sure he didn't waver again.

"You protected me," he said to her.

"Of course I did. I'll always protect you."

"Is it not supposed to be I who is protecting you?"

"We can protect each other."

"Are you all right?" Teddy asked the pharaoh. He turned to Sakagawea. "Are you all right, my dear?"

"You okay?" Larry asked his son as he hopped down from the Xiangliu.

"Yeah, thanks," Nicky answered.

Lancelot clapped his hand on Nicky's shoulder. "You fought bravely, sire. One day, I promise you, we shall drink dragon's blood from the victor's cup."

"I mean, I'm good with just, like, soda or water, too. But I like the energy we got going."

"From now on, you must choose your own path. And let no man tell you otherwise."

Raya looked at Larry and noticed that he looked a little…sad that Nicky was bonding so well with Lancelot. She could see where he was coming from. His son was growing up, and he was having a hard time letting him leave the nest.

Larry picked up his phone from the ground and saw that it had been crushed by one of the serpent heads.

"How are we going to find them now?" Ahkmenrah asked.

"Lawrence?" Teddy said as he came over to him. He showed them his hand which had stilled. "I fear we've turned a corner. I'm becoming wax again, son."

Larry looked at his wax hand and sighed. "All right. We'll look for them later. We got to get to Egypt now."

"Wait, shouldn't we keep looking for Jed and Octavius?" Nicky asked.

"Nick is right," Lancelot asked. "A true knight never shirks his duties."

"Yeah, well, if we don't get to Egypt soon, we're not gonna save anybody," Larry told them.


	29. Meet the Parents

The group continued walking through the halls to try to reach Egypt before the tablet suffered anymore damage.

"I knew those self-defense classes would come in handy," Raya remarked as she walked alongside Ahkmenrah.

"You took self-defense classes?"

"Well, after I got beat up by three old men and nearly forced into marriage by an evil pharaoh, I figured it would be beneficial."

When Raya saw 'EGYPT' on one of the walls, butterflies began flying around her stomach as she realized just how close she was to meeting the parents of the man she loved. What if they didn't approve of her? What would she and Ahkmenrah do then?

"This is it," Larry said.

"Perhaps I should accompany you in," Lancelot offered.

"No, I think we, uh, I think we got it from here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. No, we're good."

"Right. Well…friends, Larry, clown-faced keeper of the magic tablet, I shall never forget your bravery. Nor your jests. Raya, I hope that in our short time together, I have proven myself worthy of such a beautiful maiden."

Raya gave him an awkward smile, desperately wishing he would stop saying those kinds of things in front of Ahkmenrah.

"Bye," Larry said.

"I shall not say goodbye—"

"I am."

"What?"

"I'm gonna say goodbye. I have to go, I'm sorry. I'll see you."

Raya gently pulled Ahkmenrah aside.

"Are you all right?" he asked her, noticing how nervous she looked.

"Okay, I don't know if you knew this, but in this day and age, one of the most stressful moments in every person's life is when they are meeting the significant other's parents. And in my case, I'm meeting a pharaoh's parents, so I am really freaking out."

Ahkmenrah smiled kindly. "Do not worry. They will love you."

"You think so?"

"Yes. Come on."

"Okay."

The group followed Ahkmenrah further into the Egyptian exhibit where his parents could be found. They approached a tomb where two sarcophaguses were on display, their lids now removed and the mummies inside gone. The surrounding walls had various Egyptian writings on it.

"I haven't seen these walls for many a moon," Ahkmenrah remarked.

"Ahkmen?" a woman said as she came into the room.

"Mother."

The woman laughed as she hurried over to her son and hugged him tightly. Another man soon joined them.

"Father."

"Welcome home, my son," the man said as he hugged his son as well.

Raya smiled at the family reunion. She could only imagine how good it felt for Ahkmenrah to see his parents again after the better part of 80 years.

"I want you to meet my friends," Ahkmenrah smiled.

The group entered the room as Larry stepped forward.

"I am Merenkahre, Pharaoh of the Nile and Father to the Son of the Sun," the man said to him.

"And I am Shepseheret, the Glittering Jewel of the Nine Kingdoms," Ahkmenrah's mother added.

"And I am Larry," Larry said with a small nod.

"Guardian of Brooklyn," Ahkmenrah finished for him.

"Yes. Well, I actually—I live in Manhattan now."

"I know, but it doesn't sound as cool." He looked over at Raya and smiled broadly. "And this is Raya…the love of my life." Everyone looked over at him as they realized his words didn't really make sense. "Figuratively speaking."

Raya stepped forward in front of the pharaoh and his wife. "It's an honor to meet you."

Merenkahre looked her over for a few seconds. "She has a lovely face," he commented. "And a good body. Excellent for childbearing."

Ahkmenrah sighed in embarrassment as Raya's eyes widened. "Oh," she said, her voice cracking a little. She nervously cleared her throat. "Um…we haven't really gotten that far yet."

"Well, how long have you two known each other?"

"Uh…well, we've known each other for about four years now, but we've only been together officially for about a year…ish."

"And you have not yet discussed the prospect of marriage or having children?"

"…We take things slow in this culture. Some of my friends have been together for three years and still aren't married." She cleared her throat again and turned to Larry. "Uh, Larry you had something you wanted to ask them."

"Yeah. We would be very honored if you could take a look at the tablet. There's something happening with it. We don't understand what it is."

"You are speaking with a pharaoh," Merenkahre said firmly. "Kiss my staff."

Larry looked at the staff for a second and blew a kiss in its direction. Merenkahre's brow furrowed in confusion. Seeing that that wasn't enough, Larry kissed his hand and placed it on the staff.

"Is it okay if I don't?" he asked.

"You will show respect."

"I—"

"I am the descendant of Ra, the sun god."

"I understand that, and I totally respect you. I just—I don't pray to Ra, so…"

"The Egyptian gods are the only true gods."

"Well, we try to stay a little more open-minded. I mean, Sakagawea, she honors her spiritual ancestors, and you pray to, like, some sort of goat god, Attila? Right? Yeah. I'm half-Irish, half-Jewish—"

Merenkahre's and Shepseheret's faces brightened. "You are? I love Jews! We owned 40,000 of them!"

"Such lovely people," Shepseheret smiled.

"Here we go," Ahkmenrah groaned.

"They were very happy, always singing with the candles," Merenkahre said fondly.

"Yeah, they really weren't happy," Larry told them.

"Really?" Shepseheret asked.

"No. They left. They spent about 40 years in the desert trying to escape."

"Oh."

"Yeah. We have dinner once a year and talk about it. It's a big deal for us."

"Yeah, the whole event is recorded in a couple sacred books," Raya put in.

"Listen, could you take a look at that tablet? There's something wrong with it."

Ahkmenrah handed the tablet to his father and held his staff so he could inspect it better.

"It's losing its power," Merenkahre murmured.

"Well, do you think you could fix it?"

Merenkahre looked at him hardly. "To do that, I would have to divulge the secret of the tablet."

"I…I-I promise we won't tell anybody."

"No."

"…I'll kiss your staff."

"Too late."

"Father, why do you insist on keeping this to yourself?" Ahkmenrah asked desperately.

"The secret was to be passed down to you at the proper time."

"Well, it has been 4,000 years. Now seems like a good time."

Raya looked down as she smiled. She never knew Ahkmenrah could be so sassy.

Merenkahre put his hand to his son's cheek. "You were born at midnight. I was Pharaoh, and I had seen wonders most men only dream of. But when I first gazed upon you, you were instantly more precious to me than all the wonders of the ancient world. I knew I could never bear to say goodbye. I commanded the High Priest to create a gift to you, my son, using all we had learned of the mysteries of the afterlife. Forged in the temple of Khonsu, god of the moon and watcher over nighttime travelers, the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. Our tomb was designed to channel Khonsu's rays down to the tablet, rejuvenating its powers every night. The moon god bestowed his power upon the tablet so that, as long as it bathed in his light, our family could be together forever, and not even death could part us." He looked down at the corroded tablet. "It's been away from Khonsu's light too long."

The corrosion began to move up the tablet again, but this time it affected Ahkmenrah differently. When Raya looked at him, his skin was beginning to change…back to his mummified form.

"My son!" Shepseheret cried. "What is happening to you?"

She and Raya quickly ran over to him. Raya began stroking his face again, knowing that he was in much pain and that the pain got worse each time the tablet corroded.

"It needs moonlight," Merenkahre said firmly to Larry. "Otherwise we shall all be dead by sunrise. Hurry!" Larry and Nicky took off out of the exhibit to go put the tablet in moonlight. "If the tablet dies, nothing can bring it back!"

Raya looked at Ahkmenrah. "I will save you."

She firmly kissed him and then ran after Larry and Nicky to fix the tablet before everyone they loved died for real. She caught up with Larry and began helping him turn over all of the golden—now corroded—pieces so it could be restored.

Just when they were about to flip the center piece, the moonlight disappeared. They looked up to find Lancelot holding a dagger to Nicky's throat.

"What are you doing?" Larry asked frantically.

"The tablet. Now," Lancelot ordered.

He grabbed the tablet from Larry's hands and released Nicky. Raya quickly grabbed him and pulled him away from Lancelot.

"Wait, listen to me," Larry said quickly. "That thing is dying. If it doesn't get moonlight, everything ends, like, for real."

"King Arthur wasted years searching for the Holy Grail. To think it was a tablet all along."

"Would you just give it to me? You don't know what you're doing!"

"My quest is complete. I ride for Camelot tonight."

"Just keep it, okay? But just put it in the moonlight and turn that center piece."

"Sorry, not my first quest." He turned around and took off running down the hall. "And by the way, Erik was much funnier than you!"

Raya screamed in frustration. "I am going to kill him before that tablet does!"

"All right, go get the others," Larry told Nicky. "We can't let him leave the building!"


	30. Use Your Head

Larry and Raya began sprinting after Lancelot to get the tablet back. When they caught up with him, they found Teddy pointing his gun at him.

Unfortunately, he dropped the gun and held up his other hand. "Lawrence, Raya, we have a problem. This one turned to wax as well."

"I have a saying, too," Lancelot smirked as he unsheathed his sword. "'Speak loudly and carry a bigger stick'."

With no other option, Larry and Raya pushed Lancelot into one of the Escher paintings, _Relativity_. Teddy soon jumped in after them and tackled the knight. Inside the painting, the laws of physics were completely screwed up, and it was literally impossible to tell which way was up and which way was down. This was worse than the final scene in _Labyrinth._

"It's over there!" Larry exclaimed.

"You mean up there," Teddy said.

The three of them tried to maneuver through the strange painting and get to the stairs where the tablet was sitting. It ended up getting knocked to another location by one of the painting's figures.

Teddy picked up the tablet, but Lancelot hit him from behind and knocked him over the railing.

"Teddy!" Larry cried as he grabbed Teddy's hand.

Lancelot aimed his dagger at Larry's neck. "The tablet, now! I shan't ask you again, fool! And this is giving me a headache! Give me the tablet!"

"Lancelot, if we don't get the tablet, I will lose the man I love!" Raya pleaded.

"Well, if I don't get the tablet, I will lose the woman I love. You may be a beautiful maiden, but only one of us is getting that tablet, and I don't plan on it being you."

"Let me go, Lawrence," Teddy said.

"No! Teddy, no!" Teddy released himself from Larry's grip and began falling. "Teddy!"

Larry looked up at Lancelot and handed him the tablet.

"There," Lancelot smiled.

Then he got hit by a falling Teddy, and he lost his grip on the tablet. Larry, Lancelot, and Raya all made a grab for it, but Lancelot got to it first.

"That'll be mine."

Lancelot quickly jumped out of the painting and ran off.

"Hey, that was a good one," Larry told Teddy as he came down the stairs.

"No idea that would work."

"Well, it did, and that's all that matters," Raya said.

The three of them ran off through the halls to see if they could find Lancelot. At the end of the hall stood Dexter, Jedediah, and Octavius.

"Larry! Raya!" Octavius called as he waved to them.

"Hey, you guys, how you doing?" Larry said.

"Still in one piece, Gigantor!" Jedediah called up to him.

Larry handed Octavius his cape. "Octavius, I think this belongs to you."

"Thank you."

As the others joined them, Raya looked over at Ahkmenrah and saw just how weak he had become. His body was beginning to show the signs of the tablet's deterioration, and he had to hang onto his mother for support.

"I don't understand," Teddy remarked. "Why is Lancelot staying strong while we get weaker?"

"It's his first night," Merenkahre explained. "Newborns are stronger but it matters not. Unless we succeed, he, too, will be dead come the dawn."

"We can't let him leave the building," Larry said. "Sir, can you go back to Egypt, in case he comes through there?"

"Of course."

"Nicky, take Attila, check the loading dock."

"Got it."

"Teddy, go to the South Wing, cover the side doors. Raya and I got the main entrance!"

Larry and Raya ran off to the main entrance of the museum. They got there just in time to see Lancelot riding off on a horse.

"No," Raya whispered.

They bolted to the doors, but just as they got there, Tilly stepped in front of them with Laaa in one hand and her hammer in the other.

"You!" she exclaimed. "I knew you two smelled a bit off!"

"Didn't you just see that?" Larry asked her.

"See what?"

"The knight on the horse that just rode through!"

"Stop trying to distract me with your magical fantasy! I found your filthy twin, here, in the freight room!"

"He's not my twin."

"I got him, and what could he say for himself?" She did a poor imitation of Laaa's speaking voice. He growled at her not appreciating her tone. She aimed her hammer at his head. "Shut up! Shut up in your face! Shut up right now! Do you want to be smashed?"

Larry and Raya pushed past her to try to go find Lancelot and get the tablet back.

"Yeah, you can run!" Tilly screeched. "But if you leave those gates, I swear to you, your hideous doppelganger, who looks a lot like the lead singer of the Counting Crows, will get it!"

"Dada," Laaa whispered terrified.

"That's right. It compute with him."

"Dada."

Larry and Raya sighed heavily and the next thing they knew, Tilly had stuck them in the break room and locked the door behind her.

Raya began frantically pacing around the room. "Larry, what if we don't find him in time? What if we can't get out of here? I—I don't know what I'll do if we lose Ahkmenrah like this!"

"Raya, take some deep breaths," Larry said calmly. "I promise you that we will get out of here before anything happens to Ahkmenrah."

Raya sat down at the table and tried to focus on not having a panic attack. Larry tried the door, but it didn't budge. He angrily slammed his hand on it, and Laaa repeated the action with the vending machine.

"Laaa. If you see me do something dumb, don't imitate me, okay? It's basically what I keep telling Nick. He just doesn't get it, you know? I mean, he's a smart kid, but I just want to give him the tools that I didn't have. I mean, get the degree, then take a break."

"Get the degree, then take a break," Laaa mimicked.

Raya frantically turned around when he started screaming and saw that he had stuck a knife in the door of the microwave and it had begun to electrocute him.

"Laaa!" Larry yelled. "Laaa, stop that! Stop it!"

Defeated, Larry took a seat at the table with Raya. Raya held her head in her hands, and prayed that the tablet didn't corrode anymore until they could get out of here and find it.

"I guess it's just parenting, you know?" Larry complained to Laaa. "And he comes from a divorced family, so I'm sure he has a lot of conflicted feelings about me, and there might be some Oedipal stuff at play in there, or…I get it. I wasn't there a lot of the time. So I think I might be projecting my own guilt and taking it out on him in ways that I'm not even aware of."

Laaa pointed to the door and then his head.

"What?"

Laaa got up from his seat and ran over to the door.

"Door."

Then he ran back over and pointed to his head.

"Head. Okay, I…"

Laaa put his hands to his head and then flung them out in a huge motion.

"Open…head. Open your mind! Yes! Yeah, well, you're right. That's the challenge. I mean, it's all contextual, and I do. I keep looking at him through the lens of how my parents raised me, when, in reality, he's his own person."

While Larry kept talking, Laaa went over to the door to get a feel for the distance. Then he backed up by the vending machine.

"Uh, Larry?" Raya said, looking at Laaa.

"And, yeah, we share the same DNA, but honestly, he's much more evolved than I ever was."

"Larry."

"I don't want to let my own ego and childhood history stop him from making the mistakes he needs to make to become the person that he's meant to be."

Laaa ran to the door and smashed the glass with his head.

"Oh!" Larry exclaimed as he stood up. "Open the door with your head. Yes! Good, Laaa. Let's go!"

Larry grabbed Laaa, and then the three of them rushed outside to the front of the museum where the others had gathered.

"Everybody okay?" Larry asked.

"Yes, Lawrence," Teddy answered. "Attila and your boy secured the lady guard in her booth. I don't know how long it will hold her though."

"We gotta find Lancelot, but somebody has to make sure she doesn't get out." Laaa raised his hand. "Yeah. Laaa, okay. You know what you have to do?"

Laaa held his hands out in front of him. "Stay!"

"That's right. Just make sure she stays in there."

"Stay!"

"Good! Go!"

Laaa ran off to the booth to make sure that Tilly didn't get out and do something that would get everyone in trouble or worse, killed.

"Lawrence! Raya!" Teddy exclaimed. "I can't move my arms. We're becoming less useful by the minute."

Suddenly, Ahkmenrah bent over in pain, and Raya quickly put her hands on him to help stay standing. The corrosion must've moved up even further on the tablet.

Attila cried out in pain as he sank a little.

"Whoa, whoa!" Larry cried as he went over to the Hun. "Come on, big guy. What? You okay there?" He looked at Attila and saw that his eye had frozen. "Something's up with your eye, but…I don't know. It's just kind of going…"

Attila began crying out in his native language in a panic.

"You gotta relax, okay? Calm down! Attila! Attila!" Larry slapped him a little on the face to get him to calm down. "Attila doesn't hyperventilate."

Attila repeated Larry's words in his own tongue.

"You pillage! You plunder! You don't freak out. Okay?"

Nicky came up to his father. "Dad, there's, like, 8 million people in this city. He could be literally anywhere by now."

"Well, we'll find him." He looked over at Raya holding up Ahkmenrah and met her terrified eyes. "We have to."


	31. Race for the Tablet

Everyone began walking down the street to find Lancelot. Raya held onto Ahkmenrah's hand to keep him steady, knowing that he was becoming weaker by the second. He could just barely stand on his own.

Sakagawea ran up to a newspaper on the ground with a hoofprint on it. "He came this way, traveling 4 leagues per hour."

Various screams and roars sounded ahead of them.

"Or we could just follow the screams," Raya said.

They ran over to the National Gallery where the screams were coming from. When they ran down the steps, they quickly stopped when they saw several lion statues roaring at them. Because of Lancelot's stupidity, the tablet had brought the statues to life. Raya could only imagine how this looked to the outsider.

"No!" Teddy yelled. "Never run from a big cat, Lawrence."

"Gigantor, get your flashlight out!" Jedediah yelled from Larry's pocket. "These cats want to play! Whoo-wee! He's got it, boy!"

Larry took out his flashlight and shined it on the ground. To Raya's surprise, the lions began attempting to catch it. One of them ran around in a circle in an attempt to grab the light, and Jedediah and Octavius began laughing hysterically.

"Well played, sir," Teddy remarked.

The lions began tackling one another, quickly losing interest in attacking the group of exhibits.

"Where the devil could Lancelot be?"

Larry looked over at a bus and saw an advertisement for the show, _Camelot_. "Come on!"

Everyone got on a bus to head over to the London Palladium Theater where Lancelot was sure to be. Where else would he have gone?

They all sat in the back looking like the most misfit group of actors ever seen before. Raya worriedly looked over at Ahkmenrah, taking note of how…old he looked. All of his years were coming back to him at once and there were over 4,000 of those. She gripped his hand tightly, wishing that the bus would go faster.

She looked over and saw two kids staring at them.

"What's up?" Larry asked.

"We're just as God made us!" Jedediah exclaimed. The kids continued to stare at them. "Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer!"

The girl held up her phone and took a picture of them, never once looking away from the group.

Sure enough, when the group ran inside the theater, Lancelot was tearing apart the stage in hysterics as the audience members ran out in fear. On stage in Middle Age costumes were Hugh Jackman and Alice Eve.

"Lancelot!" Larry yelled. "Lancelot!"

When Lancelot noticed that they had caught up with him, he grabbed one of the torches off the wall and took off.

"Yeah, come on up," Hugh said as all of the exhibits started to go after Lancelot. "Yep. Come on up! Oh, monkeys. Terrific. I love the costumes."

Larry and Raya ran over to the actor.

"Sorry," Larry said. "I just gotta say, you're the whole package, man."

"Thanks, buddy," Hugh smiled.

"Yeah," Raya added. "You're one of my favorite actors, and I've always wanted to meet you, and because I am super high on adrenaline right now, I'm just going to go ahead and do this."

Raya ran up to him and kissed him…on the cheek, of course. She sighed happily as she turned around.

"Wait until Anna hears about this!"

Ahkmenrah narrowed his eyes as she came back over to them.

"Relax. He's married. Besides, I think you've been jealous enough for one night."

"I have not been jealous."

"Mm-hmm."

The group all burst through the rooftop door where they finally had Lancelot cornered. Ahkmenrah leaned against the railing in pain.

"Hey! Give me the tablet!" Larry ordered.

"Stay back!" Lancelot yelled as he waved the torch in front of him. "Stay back. Stand back!"

"Whoa!"

"Back!" He noticed how Larry was looking at him. "What?"

"Your, uh…your nose, it's—"

"What? What about my nose?"

"Your nose, it's—it's dripping."

"What?"

"It's melting. From the fire."

Lancelot looked down at the wax that had dripped from his nose and was now reaching to his chin. He quickly threw the torch into some water and then aimed his sword at Larry.

"Okay," he said quietly. "How bad is it?"

"It is…not great," Larry admitted.

"But I'm Lancelot!"

"There never was a Lancelot! Lancelot is a legend. You're not real."

"I don't understand!"

"I know! I know it's a lot to take in, but please, just give me the tablet."

"Oh, and then what? Back to the museum? Stand there as little children ogle and point?"

"And learn!" Teddy added as he came down the steps. "And get inspired to do great things. There are far less noble fates, my friend."

"Not for me, there aren't! If there is no Camelot, there is no Guinevere and no Lancelot, then I'm nothing. I'm just a sad lump of misshapen wax. Stop looking at my nose!"

"I wasn't looking at it!" Larry tried to tell him.

"You were, I saw you. You were like this. 'Hmm, hmm.' Staring."

"I wasn't like that."

"You were! Don't look at it!"

"I wasn't!"

"Just look at any other part of my body! Oh!"

"What?"

"Oh!"

"I didn't!"

"I saw you!"

"No, I'm looking at your eyes."

"Monkey, stop it!"

"Could you give me the tablet, please? Give me the tablet."

"Stop!"

"If you give me the tablet, I promise I won't look—"

"Do not look at my nose!"

"Give me the tablet."

"Look away."

"Give me the tablet."

"How hard could it be not to look at my nose?"

"I'm not gonna look at your nose. I'm look—I can't help it!"

"Look to the heavens!" Larry looked up to the sky to appease the psychotic Lancelot. "No one shall look at or mention my nose from this moment forward!" There was a long pause before he said more calmly, "I'm sorry, I forgot what we were talking about."

The corrosion on the tablet moved up again. Ahkmenrah fell against the other railing, his breathing ragged. Attila, Jedediah, and Octavius fell over on the ground.

"Lawrence," Teddy cried. He fell over onto the skylight behind him.

"Oh, Teddy!" Sakagawea exclaimed. She ran over to him but ended up freezing and becoming a statue again.

"Larry," Ahkmenrah mustered out. "We've run out of time."

Raya looked at him and saw his skin becoming brown and papery and his eyes clouding over as they yellowed. She held onto him to try to support him, but there was nothing else she could do for him.

"Listen to me," Larry said to Lancelot. "You got to straighten the pieces. Straighten the pieces right now or they're all gonna die! You too!"

"A world without Camelot is not a world worth living in."

"No, Lancelot, please don't let me lose him!" Raya begged.

The corrosion moved up even further, leaving only a sliver of gold left behind. Ahkmenrah collapsed against the railing, unable to stand any longer even with Raya's aid. She quickly knelt down next to him.

"No, no, no, Ahkmenrah, don't do this to me! After all we've been through, it can't end like this!"

"I'm sorry, Raya," he said quietly to her.

Dexter squealed in pain and fell over.

"Dad!" Nicky exclaimed.

"Dex?" Raya said quietly.

Larry ran over to the monkey and Dexter's hand wrapped around one of his fingers. "Dexter, what is it? You all right? Hey. Hey, man, you okay? Hey, look at me." Dexter raised up his arm. "Yeah, you want to slap me? Go ahead. Go ahead, slap me in the face." His arm came back down and he curled into a ball. "Dex? Dexter?" Dexter's eyes closed, and the hand gripping his finger loosened. "Dexter? Oh! No, no. No. Dexter? No, no. Come on, man!"

"Dad, he's gone," Nicky said sadly.

Tears came to Raya's eyes. She pressed her head to Ahkmenrah's, cherishing every second she had left with him, and gently rubbed her hands over his papery skin.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too."

Lancelot leaned down to Larry's eye level. "I understand now. The monkey was the quest. It was never about the tablet. It was about them." He looked up at Raya and Ahkmenrah. "It was about your love for him." He looked back to Larry and held out the tablet. "Forgive me. It is I who have been the fool."

Larry quickly grabbed the tablet from him and flipped all the pieces over. The clouds parted and the tablet was bathed in moonlight. It began to glow brightly and the corrosion disappeared.

Ahkmenrah gasped heavily next to Raya and his skin returned to normal. Raya smiled broadly and threw her arms around his neck as she kissed him firmly on the lips.

"We're back, baby!" Jedediah yelled.

"Lawrence!" Teddy exclaimed.

Dexter opened his eyes again and jumped onto Larry as he hugged him.

"Whoa!" Larry said. "Hey! Welcome back, buddy."

Ahkmenrah and Raya came down the stairs and hugged the other exhibits.

"Well done, Larry!" Octavius praised.

Larry handed the tablet to Ahkmenrah. "Here's your tablet."

Ahkmenrah smiled and hugged him. Then he put his free arm around Raya's shoulders and Raya laced her fingers through his.

Larry walked over to Lancelot. "Hey, thank you."

Lancelot turned around and fixed his nose. When he turned back around to face the others, it was still a little deformed, but it was much better than what it had been previously.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"You look like Lancelot."


	32. Painful Goodbye

The group of exhibits returned the museum so that Ahkmenrah's parents could know that he was safe.

Ahkmenrah smiled as he walked up to his mother.

"Well done, my child," she smiled back as she placed her hand on his cheek lovingly.

Merenkahre walked over to Larry and Raya. "Thank you both, for bringing my son home safely." He looked over at his son. "It's a strange thing…seeing your boy become a man."

"Yeah, it's crazy," Larry said quietly. "One day, they're riding a dinosaur through Central Park, and then the next day they're DJ-ing in Ibiza."

Merenkahre turned back to them. "You both have served my family well. Raya, I see now that you are indeed a very worthy woman for my son."

"Thank you," Raya answered. "You don't know how much it means to hear you say that."

"We shall build a great tomb and bury you both with many riches. I, personally, will see to it that your organs are removed and placed in separate jewel-encrusted jars."

Larry nodded a little. "Thank you."

Merenkahre smiled at them and returned to his wife and son.

"Lawrence, Raya, may I have a word?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah."

"The others and I have been talking."

"That's never a good sign," Raya muttered.

"Ahkmenrah's place is here with his family," Octavius told them. "He must remain here."

"And the tablet should stay here as well, son," Teddy added.

"This is where it belongs, Gigantor," Jedediah said.

"Wait," Raya interjected. "But…but if he stays here, then…I can't see him anymore."

"Yeah, and that means you guys would have to stay," Larry said to them.

"We belong in New York," Sakagawea explained.

Attila agreed with her in his native language.

"Yeah, but if you…If you guys go, then you…you won't be alive after tonight."

"We're museum exhibits, Laredo," Jedediah said. "It's what we are. Folks come to look at us, maybe learn a little something. That's alive, man."

"But we're…we're supposed to take care of you guys."

"And you have," Teddy smiled. "It's okay, Lawrence. We're ready."

"I'm not."

" _We're_ not," Raya added.

Teddy smiled sadly. "Let us go, my friends."

Nicky nodded at them. Tears pricked at Raya's eyes, realizing what this meant for the love she shared with Ahkmenrah.

Ahkmenrah came over to them. "Thank you for giving me back my family, Larry. Gua…" His voice faltered from the emotion of the painful good-bye. "Guardian of Brooklyn."

"Dad, if we leave right now, we can still catch a flight, get home with everyone still awake before the sun comes up," Nicky said.

"Yeah, okay," Larry answered quietly. "Let's go home."

Raya tearfully walked up to Ahkmenrah.

"Raya…"

"This is the absolute last thing I want to do. But we have a saying. 'If you love something, you let it go. If it doesn't come back, it was never yours to begin with.' Let's be honest, I think that we always knew this day was coming."

"What do you mean?"

Raya gave him a tearful smile. "I was 18 when we first met. Now I'm 22. And you're still exactly the same. You don't age. And the hard truth is that I need someone I can grow old with. Someone who can look after me…during the day." She gently put her hand to his cheek. "But that doesn't change the fact that you are the love of my life. Literally speaking. And I'll always love you. Promise you won't forget me."

Ahkmenrah brushed away a tear that had fallen down her cheek. "I could never forget you."

Raya kissed him passionately as tears streamed down her face. She finally released him and began to walk towards the others who were all looking at her sympathetically.

Larry turned around and found the Triceratops skeleton in the room. Lancelot walked up to them and stood next to her.

"It's all right, Larry," he said quickly. "We've reached something of an understanding."

"Really?"

"Trixey, sit."

The Triceratops obediently sat down as she wagged her tail excitedly.

"Wow! That's really good. Good job, Lance."

"Thank you. Trixey, behave."

The group walked past Lancelot and the Triceratops. Raya looked behind her at Ahkmenrah. Then she bolted back over to him and kissed him again, tears continuing to make their paths down her cheeks.

"I love you," she said to him.

"I love you too."

She held onto his hand for as long as she could until the space between them was too much. Nicky put his hand on her back and gently rubbed it was they walked off back to the loading dock.

It was silent between the group as they made their way through the museum. Once back in the loading dock, everyone loaded back up in the crate. Larry returned with Laaa, and Raya couldn't help but smile a little when she saw what Tilly had done to his hair. Nicky retrieved the van, and they loaded the crate up in the back then drove to the airport. Raya didn't speak for the entire flight back to New York, and Larry and Nicky knew that there was really nothing they could say to ease the pain she was feeling.

Once they returned to the museum, Raya immediately went up to Ahkmenrah's tomb. She hopped up onto the stone slab and just lay down on it, tears finding their way to her face again.

It was so quiet in the museum. She hated it.

Her head turned when she heard small feet pattering into the room. Dexter hopped up onto the slab with her and put his hand on her arm.

"Hey, Dex," she said sadly. "I didn't know love could hurt this much. It feels like my heart has been ripped right in half."

Larry slowly walked into the room as Raya sat up. "You should go say your good-byes."

"I can't…"

"Wouldn't it be better to say good-bye and get to talk to them one last time than not talk to them at all?"

Raya sighed heavily and hopped off the slab before heading over to the Diorama Room.

"Hey, Gigantess," Jedediah said from the bench in the middle of the room. "I know you're upset, but you did the right thing."

"I know," Raya admitted. "I just wish my brain would tell that to my heart."

"There is no use for tears, my liege," Octavius told her. "For we shall never truly leave."

Raya wiped a couple tears from her eyes and smiled a little. "You know, I'm usually not much of a crier. But I guess, um…when you're saying good-bye to family…things change."

Both of the miniatures smiled sadly at her.

"I love you guys."

"We love you too…Raya," Jedediah said.

Raya smiled. "That's the first time you've ever called me by my real name."

Jedediah winked up at her.

Raya placed them back in their appropriate dioramas and then went to the Hun exhibit. "Hey, Attila. We've come a long way, haven't we?"

Attila smiled at her. "My…friend."

More tears came to Raya's eyes at the first English words she had ever heard from. She gently placed her hand on his chest. "My…family."

Attila hugged her and went inside his exhibit. Raya went back to the lobby where Teddy and Sakagawea were saying their final good-byes to one another. When they parted, Raya went up and hugged Sakagawea tightly.

Sakagawea smiled and left to return to her exhibit. Then Raya and Teddy walked back over to Larry who was standing in front of Texas.

"Who would have ever thought?" Teddy asked the two night guards. "I'm wax, she's polyurethane. But somehow, it worked."

Larry sighed. "I guess this is it."

"Indeed. And I know young Nick will do great things."

"Yeah, he's ready to take on the world all by himself."

"Then you've done your job. You've done your job. It's time for your next adventures."

"I have no idea what we're gonna do tomorrow."

"How exciting."

Teddy turned and hopped up onto Texas.

"Bye, Teddy," Larry said to him.

"Farewell, Lawrence. Farewell, Raya."

He took out his sword and got into his museum pose. Raya smiled a little, knowing what was coming. Sure enough, Teddy suddenly yelled, "Bully!" which caused Larry to jump a foot in the air. Over the years, Raya was certainly thankful that she had become immune to that little joke of his.

Teddy laughed. "Got you!" Larry sighed again at his friend's old trick. "Smile, my friends. It's sunrise."

Tears began to stream down Raya's face again as she watched the former president freeze for the last time. Larry put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"Ready to go?"

Raya looked around for a second. "Um…just give me a few minutes, okay?"

"Nicky and I will wait outside for you."

"Okay…"

Raya went up to Ahkmenrah's tomb again. It felt empty and hollow without his presence. She walked past the jackals to the empty case where his sarcophagus usually was. They had made a lot of memories in here. This was where they had talked for hours on end. This was where they had grown closer with each other. This was where they had confessed their love for each other after so long. This was where they had shared the first kiss.

Raya collapsed against the empty case in sobs. She missed him already, and it didn't seem fair that she had to lose him.

"Raya?"

Larry walked into the tomb to find Raya sobbing against Ahkmenrah's display, and his fatherly instincts took over. He quickly went over to the girl and knelt down next to her before pulling her into a tight hug. She clung onto him tightly, her sobs echoing out across the empty tomb.

* * *

There was a knock on the door of Larry's apartment several days after the night at the British Museum. When he answered it, there stood Raya with her arms crossed over her chest and glassy eyes.

"Can I come in?" she asked softly.

"Sure."

Raya came into his apartment and Larry closed the door behind her.

"How are you holding up?" he asked her.

Raya let out a small laugh. "Honestly…I don't know. I loved him, Larry. It's hard. I guess I knew that it could never work out for obvious reasons…but I went for it anyway. I feel so stupid."

"You're not stupid. And even though it didn't work out, I saw you two together. You got to have something that few people get to experience. You got to know what it was like to be really in love."

"Maybe, but at what cost? I mean, Anna is asking me why I'm upset and I have no idea what to tell her, I got paid to spend time with my good friends and now that's been taken away from me, in fact, they've all been taken away from me, and the man I love is halfway around the world, and I just feel guilty for wanting him back here because I know that's where he belongs, and…I just have so many emotions going on all at once that I don't even know how to begin to process them all!"

Larry looked at her sadly. "I know. I went through a divorce, remember?"

"Does this pain ever go away?"

"It dulls. Over time."

Raya crashed down on his sofa in tears. Larry sadly looked at the girl who was like a sister to him. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"I miss him."

"I know," he said quietly to her as he rubbed his hand up and down her arm. "You're gonna be okay."


	33. Years Later

_Two Years Later_

Raya took a deep breath as she entered the British Museum. There was only one exhibit she wanted to see.

As she walked through the halls, memories flooded back to her from that night she had had to say the most painful good-bye in her entire life. She had spent a lot of time wishing that she had never met Ahkmenrah in order to save herself from the utter heartbreak she had experienced, but then she decided that she would never trade what they had shared for the world.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the three sarcophaguses side-by-side in the Egyptian wing of the museum. She slowly approached them and waited until no one was around.

"Hello, Ahkmenrah," she said quietly to the middle sarcophagus. "Uh, it's kind of weird to talk to you knowing that your parents can hear me, but here I am." She let out a small laugh. "There's so much I want to say. Um, I graduated from college. Finally. And I, uh, I just published my first book. It's all about two people who work at a museum where everything comes to life at night. My editor said that it was a lovely piece of fiction. I thought it best not to tell him that it was actually based on a true story. He doesn't really believe in magic. Although, I guess I didn't really either until I started working at the museum. Um…I brought a copy with me. I thought I could leave it here and hope that security thinks it's just part of the exhibit and that you could read it. It would help you practice reading English."

She sighed as she looked down at her hands. How she wished he could answer her again. She missed hearing his voice.

"My book made the bestsellers list. My mom actually apologized to me. She said that she was sorry for keeping me from pursuing what I really love and that I made the right decision to change my major. Uh…I've tried really hard to be able to get in after hours, but even with Tilly's pull, it can't happen. I know what you're thinking, we broke in before. But that was back when I had Larry and Nicky…and you. Now, I'm on my own. Larry went back to college to get a degree and became a teacher, and Nicky has been traveling all over the world trying to figure out what exactly he wants to do. Me? I've missed you. I think about you every day. And to answer the question I know you must be thinking, no, I'm not seeing anyone. I almost went on a couple dates, but I called them off. It wasn't fair to either of us for me to date when…I'm still in love with you. And I don't know if you still love me anymore, but regardless…I have something I want to tell you."

Raya took a piece of paper out of her bag with what looked like gibberish scribbled on it.

"Okay, now this may completely inaccurate. After all, I just got it off the Internet, but I'm hoping you get the main idea, so here it is: Ink mrwt ek. Ek Ahkmenrah mery. Ek khenuib."

Tears began to form in her eyes as she looked at the English translation: 'I love you. You are my beloved. You are my heart's treasure.'

"Okay," she said quickly. "I'm going to go before I completely lose it and someone asks why I am talking to an exhibit and having a breakdown. It was really nice to talk to you again."

Raya quickly left the museum after discreetly leaving her book hidden behind the sarcophagus.

That night, the second the lid of Ahkmenrah's sarcophagus was lifted, he quickly sat up. "Raya!" He looked over at Shepseheret and went over to her excitedly. "She came, Mother. After all this time, she came here. I wanted so much to reach out to her and tell her that I still love her too. And did you hear the way she spoke that Egyptian? I know it wasn't exactly the proper way to say it, but the way it rolled from her mouth…"

Shepseheret looked at the excitement on her son's face. She hadn't seen him so excited about something in two years.

"Merenkahre," she said softly. "May I speak with you please?"

Merenkahre and Shepseheret went off to the side out of earshot of their son.

"Darling…I think it's time we change the rules of the tablet."

"What do you mean?" the old pharaoh asked his wife.

"You've always known that his tablet had the power to resurrect him."

Merenkahre looked at his wife in shock. "No. He is _my_ son!"

"He's my son too. And I love him with all my heart."

"Then how could you suggest such a thing?"

"Look at him! Our son is miserable! What is the point of having him with us if he is just going to be unhappy?" Shepseheret sighed, expecting her husband to disagree with her. She didn't like the situation anymore than he did. They both knew that if they resurrected him, that would be it. Once he died, the tablet's power would no longer bring him back to life. But part of a mother's job is putting her child's needs before her own. "Do you remember what Raya said before she left? 'If you love something, you let it go'."

"'If it doesn't come back, it was never yours to begin with'," Merenkahre finished.

"Our son came back to us. And we got more time with him than we were ever meant to. But he doesn't belong to us anymore. He belongs to her." She put her hand to his cheek. "It's time to let him go."

"I don't know if I can."

"Raya did. She let go of the one person she loved most in the world in order to make us happy. I think it is time to return the favor."

Merenkahre sighed heavily. He looked over at his son and saw him hungrily reading the book Raya had left for him.

Deep down, he knew his wife was right. During his time in Egypt, Ahkmenrah had never once shown any desire for any of the women who had been presented to him. After a while, he had wondered if Ahkmenrah would ever find someone to love as he loved his own wife. But on that night two years ago, he had seen how much his son loved the American girl and how much she loved him in return. She had chosen to leave him here under the impression he would be happier even though it tore her apart. With that action, she had earned Merenkahre's respect even more. She was indeed a worthy wife for his son. Who was he to take away the one thing he had always wanted for his most cherished child?

With another sigh, he picked up the Tablet of Ahkmenrah and began to read portions of the inscription…

* * *

One year later, Raya was walking down the sidewalk back to her apartment and ended up passing by the Natural History Museum. She stopped when she heard music coming from the building and disco lights in the windows. Her breathing quickened a little when she read the sign above the museum: 'For a Limited Time Only. Treasures From the British Museum'. She hadn't heard about this happening…

She went up to the door and walked inside. To her amazement, all of the exhibits were alive once more and dancing around the lobby. Raya smiled as she walked through the crowd, seeing all of the familiar faces of the people she loved.

She looked towards the stairs and saw someone she thought she would never see again DJ-ing the whole party, dancing just as ridiculously as ever. He looked up and met eyes with her.

"Ahkmenrah," she whispered.

She ran over to him as fast as her legs would carry her, and he met her halfway. She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her. Neither of them released from the tight hug for quite a long time.

Jedediah and Octavius smiled at the reunited couple from on top of the records.

"Come," Ahkmenrah said to Raya. "We must speak alone."

Raya followed Ahkmenrah up the stairs where they were away from the party and they could actually hear themselves.

"I've missed you so much," Raya said to him.

"I know. I heard you when you came to the museum."

"You did?"

"Yes. I wanted so much to be able to see you. I finished your book, by the way. It was wonderful."

"Thank you."

Ahkmenrah stopped her in front of the exhibit that used to hold his sarcophagus. The exhibit had since changed greatly. It no longer was a tomb, but it still held all of the previous Egyptian artifacts the museum had.

"Raya, there's something important I need to talk to you about."

"Okay."

"It turns out the tablet has more power than I originally thought."

"What do you mean?"

"The change was gradual. I didn't even know it was happening until a few months ago. But then I started feeling different. Going to sleep later than usual. Not hearing what happened in the museum during the day anymore. But I knew things were different when I felt the sun on my skin for the first time in 4,000 years." Ahkmenrah took Raya's hand and put it to his chest.

Raya gasped lightly. "There's a heartbeat."

"Yes. I don't know exactly how it happened, but…I'm human again. I have started to age. Which means I can grow old with you."

"What are you saying?"

Ahkmenrah knelt down on one knee and procured an exquisite ring. "Raya Daniels, would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

Raya smiled broadly as tears sprung to her eyes. "Yes."

Ahkmenrah smiled as he stood up and placed the ring on her finger. Then he kissed her passionately for the first time in three years.


	34. Epilogue

After sundown, Ahkmenrah and Raya walked into the British Museum and made their way to the Egyptian exhibit.

"Ahkmen?" Shepseheret exclaimed.

"Hello, Mother," Ahkmenrah smiled as the woman hugged both of them.

"You're back!"

"Yes," Raya said. "We had to pull a lot of strings, but now that Ahkmenrah has a job teaching a course at Cambridge on Ancient Egypt, he got permission to go to the museum after hours for one night in order to do research. So we thought that you might like to meet your grandchildren."

Raya moved the bundle in her arms to show Merenkahre and Shepseheret her child and Ahkmenrah did the same for the bundle in his arms.

"What are their names?" Shepseheret asked.

"Well, the one Ahkmenrah is holding is Larissa, after the person who indirectly helped us meet," Raya answered. "And because of everything you have done for us, sir, this little one is named Marianna Kara."

Merenkahre smiled broadly as he looked at the faces of his twin granddaughters.

"We can't thank you enough for what you've done for us," Raya continued. "I know it must've been hard for you, but it means the world to me."

"We would not have done it for anyone, my child," Merenkahre told her. "You proved to us that you are a worthy wife for my son."

"Thank you, sir. Would…would you like to hold her?"

Raya carefully transferred Marianna Kara to Merenkahre's arms while Ahkmenrah handed Larissa over to Shepseheret.

"They are so beautiful," Shepseheret gushed. "You are very lucky."

"Thank you."

"What are you both doing now?"

"Well, we're actually about to move to Egypt in a few weeks. Ahkmenrah is going to be teaching at one of the universities, and I'm going to be working on my next novel. Besides, we thought it would be good for the twins to grow up where such a large portion of their heritage is."

"Someday, we'll explain the whole story to them," Ahkmenrah added. "Though it will probably take a lot of convincing on our part."

Shepseheret and Merenkahre handed the babies back to their parents.

"We are so proud of you, Ahkmen," Shepseheret said as she hugged her son. "Both of you."

Raya smiled. "We'll be back someday. After all, the twins need to meet you when they can actually remember it. And we'll probably need your help convincing them of who their father really is."

"Until then, dear one," Merenkahre said to her. "May Khonsu smile down upon you on your journey."

Raya smiled broadly as she looked at her husband by her side and the babies in their arms.

Best internship ever.


End file.
